


Girls' Trip

by Rosie2009



Series: Descendants Fanfiction [37]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies), Disney - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-09-26 02:49:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 20,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20382436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosie2009/pseuds/Rosie2009
Summary: Evie, Mal, Uma, Audrey, and Jane go on a road trip to the beach for a three-day weekend. Evie's driving and has road rage, Uma constantly pesters Audrey, Mal thinks it's all kind of funny, and Jane's wide-eyed and lovably clueless as usual. Friendship and family feels.





	1. Setting Off

“Jay, do you have my pink suitcase?” Audrey questioned as she walked out to the car with her purse in her hand and a pair of hot pink sunglasses on her face.

Jay ambled along behind her, significantly slowed down by the gigantic amount of luggage that he was carrying.

It was finally the day. Evie, Mal, Uma, Audrey, and Jane were all leaving on a girl’s trip to the beach at Belle’s Harbor. Ben had a beach house there and the girls- mostly Evie- had decided that they needed some time to bond and relax together.

They were going to be staying for the three-day weekend and absolutely everyone that was not going on the trip was already missing them and dying for them to come back, despite the fact that they hadn’t even left yet.

“Well, all of your suitcases are pink. Which one are you addressing right now?” Jay ground out as he sluggishly approached the trunk of Evie’s blue Jeep Renegade.

“The heart-shaped one,” Audrey clarified, and the former thief rolled his eyes at her as he tried to spot the one that she was after in his huge pile.

“Oh, here it is,” Audrey told him, gesturing at a case on the very bottom of his armful. Jay finally sat it all down in the back of Evie’s Jeep, breathing heavily as he looked over at Audrey.

“Why in the world do you need all of this jun-” Jay quickly paused as Audrey spun back around to face him, as if she were just challenging him to finish that sentence, “stuff? Aren’t you just supposed to pack stuff like toothbrushes and clothes?”

“It’s the essentials, Jay. Everything in this car is exactly what I need to survive without the conveniences of my home,” Audrey explained to him. Jay just raised an eyebrow skeptically, but he gave in, shutting the trunk firmly as he turned to face the brunette.

“Let me guess… There’s five different outfits for each day including shoes and accessories,” he wagered, and Audrey grinned at him as she leaned in to kiss his cheek.

“You know me so well,” she replied as she started to turn to go back around the car. Jay caught her around the waist and pulled her back against his chest.

“I think not! You aren’t getting away without a real kiss, Princess,” Jay asked her, tickling her sides. She giggled, placing her hands on his as she tilted her head around to face him. Audrey smiled softly and brought him into a slow, deep kiss.

Before it could go on too much longer, however, they were rudely drawn out of their romantic haze.

“Don’t make out behind my car. Charlene doesn’t like that,” a voice suddenly interrupted them, and Jay pulled away with frustration to look at Evie who had just materialized along with Mal and the rest of the group. Audrey just smiled at him and gave him one last kiss.

“Did you name your car?!” Audrey cried out, and Evie just shrugged with a sheepish smile.

Jay put his hand on her cheek and moved her chin so that she was facing him again.

“I’m going to miss you,” he whispered under his breath as everyone started into their goodbyes. Audrey moved closer to touch her nose against his, looking into his eyes lovingly.

“I’m going to miss you, too. But it’s just the weekend.”

“A three-day weekend,” Jay quickly interjected, and Audrey huffed a bit in laughter.

“Regardless, it shouldn’t be that long for my big, bad thief to survive by himself,” Audrey told him, pulling away and grinning as she hurried around the Jeep with Jay in hot pursuit.

Evie rolled her eyes at the two, smiling at their sweetness, and she hugged Carlos tightly.

“Make sure Jay doesn’t go pining after her the whole weekend,” Evie joked, and Carlos chuckled.

“I’ll try. No promises, though,” Carlos told her when he moved back to embrace Jane.

Mal walked over, ruffling Carlos hair. She swiftly brought him into a side-hug when he finally broke away from Jane.

“Okay, Lil’ C, don’t miss me and E too much. After all, we’re leaving, too,” Mal teased with a grin. Carlos smiled widely and he picked Mal up, spinning her around and she laughed.

“Put me down, you heathen!” Mal half-heartedly scolded and he sat her back on the ground after a moment. Mal smiled as she turned to go pry Jay away from Audrey where they were a little preoccupied behind one of the back doors of the car.

Evie followed Mal quickly so she could wish Jay a goodbye as well.

“Give Dude some extra scratches from me, okay?” Jane awkwardly told Carlos once the other two girls had left. He turned to face her with a wide smile.

“Sure thing! But it won’t be as good as you doing it, though,” Carlos heartfeltly admitted, and Jane shyly eyed him in response with a pleased look on her face.

“You two are making me gag,” Uma interrupted. Carlos looked over at the dark-skinned girl with an unimpressed expression. “Good grief, y’all are acting like it’s three weeks. It’s three days! Four because we’re leaving today, but you know what I mean,” Uma complained but left the two of them together in peace.

“They’re a bunch o’ wimps, I’d say,” Harry piped up as she sidled up to him. Uma offered him a smirk, and he responded with a more genuine look in his eyes as he watched her. “But I suppose I’m a hypocrite. It’ll be hard without me cap’n for next few days. Who’s goin’ to yell orders at me now?” Harry joked as he softly smiled at Uma. The pirate just rolled her eyes and punched him in the shoulder before leaning her head against his shoulder.

“Get your keisters into this car right now! I’m about to leave!” Evie called out with a laugh as she honked the horn like a maniac.

Uma shook her head in fond exasperation and turned to Harry. She tugged his hook to bring him into a hug. He placed his hand on the back of her head as he drew her closer, pressing his cheek against the side of it in a tender gesture.

“You take care of Gil, okay? He’s an idiot,” Uma murmured with a slight grin. Harry nodded in response as they glanced over at the son of Gaston that was currently amusing himself with a newfound Chinese finger trap. “I don’t know how you’re going to live without me for even the short time I’m gone,” Uma told him quietly.

“Ooh! Uma, have you tried this? It really traps your fingers! I don’t know why it traps them like a Chinese, though. How do Chinese get trapped?” Gil questioned as he completely distracted himself from his earlier question. Uma rolled her eyes, sharing one long last glance with Harry before she moved over to Gil and clapped him on the shoulder.

“You behave, ‘kay?” Uma checked and Gil tried to pull his fingers out of the trap to give her a thumbs up, but he couldn’t draw them from the device’s hold. Uma shook her head and she headed for the car. She paused just before she got in, looking over at the boy. “And, Gil? It’s called a Chinese finger trap because it comes from China.”

“Oh! That makes sense!” Uma huffed exasperatedly in response but offered him a grin as she got in the car, waving at the both of them.

Mal watched as Uma slid in beside Audrey. She turned back to her husband with a smile.

“Are you sure you can handle everything while I’m gone?” Mal checked, straightening the lapels of his jacket. Ben smiled at her and dipped down to lovingly kiss her forehead.

“I’ll be fine. You go have fun with the girls,” Ben told her softly, and she felt her heart flutter pleasantly before she forced herself to be serious.

“If you need help, Benjamin Florian, you ask your parents. And don’t overwork yourself. You hear me?” Mal instructed firmly. Ben gave her a mock salute.

“Yes, ma’am.” Mal rolled her eyes, and quickly kissed him before starting over to the car. She knew Evie was growing more and more impatient to get going. After all, the entire trip had been her idea.

“You stop right there, Princess,” a voice suddenly sounded off, and Mal turned to face the sound with a pleased curl of her lips.

It was her father and he raised an eyebrow.

“You didn’t seriously think I was going to let you leave without saying goodbye?” Hades asked and he opened his arms as Mal rushed into them gladly.

“These other parents might be good with their kids, but I don’t see any of them saying bye,” Hades commented smartly as he squeezed her gently in his embrace.

Mal leaned up and kissed him on the cheek.

“You _are_ the best dad,” Mal expressed with a light tone. Hades held her arms with his hands as he surveyed her from his towering position.

“Y’know, I am totally not worried about you in the least. It’s just three days, and there is absolutely nothing that you five could get into within that short amount of time,” Hades explained to her with a fond look in his eyes.

“I just hope Evie doesn’t get road rage. She’s worse than me, you know. And this is a really long drive,” Mal told him. All forms of content dissipated from his face as he moved away a bit to yell at Evie.

“Keep a cool head!” he warned. Evie easily agreed, promising to at least try to.

“Yeah. That’s ironic coming from the guy that has a head that literally catches on fire,” Mal caught Uma’s sarcastic quip from the back of the Jeep.

The faerie largely ignored the pirate’s remark and she gave her dad one last hug before turning to go.

“I love you!” Ben told her as she left.

“Love you more!” Mal called back in response as she hopped in and shut her car door, beaming widely at him through the window.

“I love you the most,” Hades put in his opinion threateningly as he glared at Ben before returning his gaze to Mal with an affectionate smile.

Evie started up the car and everyone rolled down their windows as they waved and shouted at everyone. Jane laughed as Carlos chased after them, grabbing her hand as they started out of Evie’s driveway. After a moment, he let go, and hopped up and down behind them while waving them away.

Evie sucked in a deep breath and shook her head contentedly. It was going to be a great trip.


	2. Flat Tires and Foot Funk

“Look, you people, I’m going to sleep. This endless driving is boring me to death,” Audrey told them, shifting in her seat to get more comfortable. After a moment of positioning herself between Uma and Jane, Audrey closed her eyes with a contented sigh.

Mal looked to the back seat, raising an eyebrow at Audrey in quiet consideration of how the trip had been anything but uninteresting for the pink princess all thanks to Uma.

So far, Uma had spent all of her time shooting comments at Audrey and firing up an argument. Now that her main source of amusement was going to sleep, Uma likely wouldn’t know what to do with herself.

Jane was peacefully looking out the window at the passing scenery, and Uma was sitting there with a bored expression on her face. Of course, Mal was sure that Uma was bored because she seemed to find it necessary to be fully entertained throughout the entire drive.

Uma happened to look over at Audrey and her face lit up in the thrill of whatever idea that must have popped into her head. The pirate caught Mal’s gaze and she glanced between her foot and Audrey as she attempted to silently convey to Mal what she was planning.

Mal immediately knew what Uma was planning and she just stared at her, unimpressed.

Uma grinned wickedly as she comically waggled her eyebrows at Mal. Mal just shook her head, simultaneously trying to convey disapproval but also attempting to avoid laughing at what Uma was about to do.

The dark-skinned girl first peeled off her shoe and sock carefully so she wouldn’t disturb the sleeping beauty beside her. As soon as she had removed the layers off of her bare foot, she leaned against the window and lifted it up toward Audrey’s face slowly. She just managed to press the bottom of her disgustingly sweaty foot against Audrey’s lips when the brunette’s eyes flew open and she started screeching loudly.

“MY GOSH, GET YOUR GNARLY FOOT OUT OF MY FACE!!!!!” Audrey jumped as far as her seatbelt would let her in the opposite direction and successfully managed to elbow Jane in the stomach, knocking the breath out of her.

“Audrey!” Jane wheezed, bringing her hands up to protect her torso from any more blows as she desperately attempted to recover from the hit.

“Can’t I get a moment’s peace?!” Audrey shouted, and Uma just cackled loudly in response. Mal couldn’t help the smirk that came onto her face at the pink princess’ expense. She subtly looked over at Evie to see if she found it humorous, too, but she disappointedly noted that Evie was nowhere near as pleased as Mal was with the little trick.

For a several moments, things were quiet except for Uma’s occasional laughs. Until Mal heard Audrey sniffing hard and coughing.

“Why does it smell like a nasty, greasy hamburger in here?” Audrey questioned, dead serious as she looked at Jane. The young fairy girl just shook her head and shrugged her shoulders cluelessly. Mal watched Uma’s lips wobble in an attempt to keep the grin away, and Mal immediately knew what the smell was as soon as it hit her nose.

After only a moment of consideration, Audrey seemed to quickly catch on.

“EW! Your feet are absolutely horrid!” Audrey cried, hiding her nose under her shirt as she tried to avoid the stench.

Uma just grinned widely, chuckling. Jane quickly followed Audrey in her hiding. As soon as it hit Evie’s nose, she started gagging, her eyes watering while she tried to focus on her driving in the midst of the pandemonium. Mal shrugged her shoulders, mostly unbothered by the smell.

“Dang, you remember when we were little and we’d compete to see who could smell the worst?” Uma asked Mal, and the green-eyed girl nodded her head with a smile.

“Heck, yeah, I do! That was what we were raised on. Foot funk and fish breath,” Mal shared a laugh with Uma. Evie’s eyes went wide as she glanced at Mal.

“You two competed over that?!” Evie squeaked, and Mal shrugged her shoulders.

“Yeah. It was practically the glue that held us together,” Mal grinned as she looked back at the pirate. Uma just grinned, offering up her hand. Mal hit it in a high-five and Uma laced her fingers with Mal’s, squeezing firmly.

“You guys are disgusting,” Jane mumbled as she rolled the car window down to get some fresh air.

Mal let go of Uma as she readjusted herself in her seat with a contented look on her face.

“I think I’m going to puke,” Evie spoke after a few moments and Mal could see the strange look in her eyes as she gripped the wheel tightly. Mal grunted in response before laying her head back against the seat.

“Uma, put your shoe back on,” Mal instructed. Uma groaned in resignation and she pulled on her sock and shoe. Mal rolled down Uma’s window from her panel on her door, and there was a collective sigh of relief amongst the three suffering girls.

“Auradon’s made you a fun-sucker, Mal,” Uma grumbled, closing her eyes as she enjoyed the wind in her face while they cruised down the road.

All of a sudden, however, there was a loud thump, and everyone was thrown upward in their seats. Mal clung onto the armrest and Jane was deathly quiet.

“The heck?!” Uma shouted and Audrey squeaked. There was thunderous rattling and shaking and Evie quickly pulled over.

They sat for a moment on the side of the road, their eyes wide and not really knowing what to say.

“What was that?” Jane finally questioned, and it seemed that Evie was spurred into action. She hopped out of the car as fast as she could, and she hurried over to the front of the car.

She kneeled down beside her prized Jeep and to her horror and surprise, it was a very much flat tire that had sent them into the wobbling frenzy. Evie straightened, looking quite perplexed indeed as the other girls slowly poured out of the car.

“E, what happened?” Mal asked, and Evie furrowed her brow in thought as she silently considered what they were going to do.

“Looks like a flat to me,” Uma pointed out finally as she kicked the tire on her way by. Evie shot her a nasty look for kicking Charlene, and she moved around to the back of the Jeep to look at the spare on the back.

“Hey, Mal, Uma, can you two come help me?” Evie called, and the two in question strode over to assist.

Uma took the left side, Mal took the right, and Evie grabbed the middle as they heaved it upwards. Once it was off of its mount, they scurried over to the left side of the Jeep.

“Good grief, did you have to pick out the biggest dang tires available?!” Uma grunted as she hauled the tire.

“I wanted something with a little lift,” Evie breathily replied as they sat it down and leaned it against the flat tire.

They stood there catching their breaths for a moment until Mal finally addressed the inevitable.

“How are we going to change it?” Mal asked bluntly, looking over at Evie with an eyebrow raise. Uma shrugged her shoulders and looked at Audrey wickedly.

“So, Princess, you gonna show us how it’s done?” Uma challenged with a grin. The pink-clad girl glanced over at her and she was swiftly approaching a state of hysteria.

“I don’t know how to change a tire!” Audrey cried, pacing around the side of the car. “We’re going to be stuck out here in the middle of nowhere with absolutely no help and no food and no water and no WIFI!!!” Audrey screeched and everyone looked over at her with an unimpressed expression. Audrey sobered a bit, seeming to realize how ridiculous that sounded. “Well, you know… the no help part is really bad.”

“I think I have some tools in the back that Carlos left in there. We need to raise Charlene up,” Evie decided, and looked pointedly at Mal, Uma, and Audrey. They stared blankly back at her for a moment and then it dawned upon Uma and Mal exactly what she was asking them to do.

Mal silently walked over to the side of the car and Uma followed her with a groan. Audrey still hadn’t gotten the message, so she was just gaping at them as they grabbed the underside of the car, trying to lift it.

To their aggravation, they couldn’t even get it off the ground, but they still worked to raise it up. Audrey’s eyes went wide as she realized what she was asked to do.

“No way! I am not putting my hands underneath that nasty, greasy vehicle!”

“Don’t call Charlene nasty! It’s okay, baby, she doesn’t mean it,” Evie patted the metal of the door as she went around the Jeep and started digging through the back of it.

“Hey, you finding those tools back there?!” Uma called after a moment, her voice strained. Mal’s brow was furrowed as she worked to hold it up.

“And while you’re back there, do you think you could look for a jack?” Mal added smartly and glanced at Uma.

“Jackpot!” Evie suddenly cried and came around the Jeep with a jack in tow. Mal and Uma let go of the vehicle quickly, sighing in relief at the feeling of not having to lift a heavy car.

“You know, that was kind of funny. Me saying jackpot because I found a jack,” Evie laughed suddenly as she recognized the irony of her statement. Jane joined in until Uma and Mal looked at them both with a bored expression. Their giggles died down quickly and Evie cleared her throat awkwardly.

“Okay… I think me and Uma should take care of this. You and Jane have to get back in the car after your horrifying attempt at humor,” Mal directed and Evie just poked out her lip in protest.

“I thought it was funny,” Evie pouted. Audrey rolled her eyes, looking up from her phone as she studied the bluenette.

“It was good for a dad joke,” Audrey deadpanned and Mal and Uma couldn’t help but laugh at Evie’s expense.

“Alright, Evie put your jack down here and let’s see what we can do for ol’ Charlene,” Uma instructed, and Evie placed the jack beneath the underside of the Jeep. Evie looked through the tools that Carlos had in the container and she furrowed her brow.

Uma and Mal closely examined the tire and Uma shared a glance with the faerie before jerking the hubcap off of the wheel. Evie immediately glared at the two.

“Be careful with her!” Evie scolded, as she went back to trying to see which tool she should pull out. Out of sheer boredom, Audrey strolled over to look over her shoulder at the tool selection.

“Y’know, I think Chad used that one when he changed my tire,” Audrey pointed in a vague direction at some tool. Evie held one up.

“This one?”

“No, that one,” Audrey waved her hand again, mostly focused on her phone that was not currently working.

Mal furrowed her brow as she examined the lug nuts. Uma raised an eyebrow and she turned to face Evie, who was very conveniently holding the tool she needed.

“Hand me that, would you?” Uma requested, extending her hand. Evie gave it to her as she started sifting through more of the assorted paraphernalia that was in the box.

Mal wordlessly waved Jane over while Audrey was still trying to help Evie pick a tool.

“Jack us up,” Mal instructed, and the blue-eyed girl quickly complied as she kneeled just behind Evie.

“I’m telling you, Audrey, this looks right,” Evie told her, holding up a screwdriver. Audrey rolled her eyes.

“Nope, that is definitely not it. Does that look like it’s going to loosen anything besides the screws in your swing-set behind your house?” Audrey questioned, quickly shifting her gaze back to her phone as she raised it up higher in an attempt to gain connectivity.

“It might go faster if you help me look, Auds,” Evie stated just before the flat tire came down on the ground beside her with a thud. She jumped in surprise and looked over at the three girls bent down beside Charlene.

Mal and Uma eyed her with a smirk and Jane looked quite pleased with herself.

“You think you could stop trying to help us replace the tire and help us replace the tire?” Jane suddenly told Evie, and Uma looked over at the shy girl with wide eyes.

“Dang, girl, did you really just sass her? You took my opportunity!” Uma cried and Mal chuckled in response, clapping her on the shoulder.

“I’m proud of you, Jane. You’ve learned something from me after all,” Mal expressed with a mischievous smile sent toward Evie.

The bluenette rolled her eyes and she got up to help them lift the tire. The three of them heaved it upwards and slid it onto the lug bolts. Uma tightened the lug nuts while Mal and Evie held the tire steady.

Jane then lowered the jack slowly and the car gradually sunk to the ground. Uma did some final checks and then high-fived Mal as they stood up.

Just as Evie was about to speak, Audrey suddenly interrupted.

“Hey! I’ve finally got internet connection!” Audrey cried victoriously, but quickly quieted upon the realization that everyone was getting back into the car. She ran over to Jane’s side of the Jeep. “Wait for me!”


	3. Hitchhikers and Conflicts of Music Taste

“Wanna hear a story about a hitchhiker that I heard from some Auradon kid lately?” Uma asked and Audrey eyed her skeptically from her position beside the dark-skinned girl.

“Maybe? It depends,” Audrey replied. Mal turned in her seat to look at Uma.

“Go for it. We need something distract us after that fiasco earlier,” Mal told her, settling in to listen to her story. Uma grinned at them all before launching into her tale.

“So apparently this kid’s dad was on his way to Tangletown and it was pouring down rain,” Uma began, and Evie glanced at her through the rearview mirror as she listened while drove.

“The dad saw a hitchhiker on the side of the road, so naturally, he felt sorry for the guy and decided to offer him a ride.

“The dude hopped in quickly, all thankful and that crap, and pulled in a leather zip-up bag with him,” Uma told them, and even Audrey was starting to look a little interested as she lowered her phone ever so slightly.

“As they drove down the road, the guy was really strangely quiet. The dad couldn’t help but notice how odd he looked with his lanky legs and big hands on boney arms. His eyes bugged out and they had an almost feral look to them,” Uma described, and Audrey sat her phone down as she dedicated her full attention to the story. Jane leaned forward in her seat, watching Uma carefully. Even Evie was glancing into the rearview mirror more often in the midst of her curiosity.

“The dad suddenly heard an unzipping sound, so he looked over at the guy and saw that he was very slowly unzipping his leather bag.

“So the dad was like, ‘Yo, man, what’s in your bag?’ The guy immediately tells him, ‘It’s nunya business.’ And so they continue to drive a little bit farther.

“The guy starts unzipping the bag again and the dad goes, ‘Seriously, what’s in your bag?’ The guy once again tells him, ‘It’s nunya business.’ The dad is starting to get pretty dang mad at this point, and when he hears the guy unzipping his bag a little more, he immediately pulls over and demands that the guy get out of his car,” Uma explained, and everyone in the car had their attention focused solely upon the pirate.

“Of course, the guy’s all mad and he hops out of the car yelling and complaining and making a big fuss. As soon as he shuts the door, the dad takes off and leaves him there,” Uma narrated. “The dad’s really angry and he just can’t believe the nerve of this guy. He was kind enough to pick him up off the side of the road, and the guy won’t even do him the courtesy of telling him what the heck’s in the bag.

“But here’s the real kicker- the guy left his leather bag in the car.” Mal’s brow furrowed as she considered this plot development, completely drawn in by the story.

“The dad sees it’s opened just a little bit, and it dawns on him that he could just open it the rest of the way and figure out exactly what was inside that the guy was so intent on hiding from him,” Uma paused, and everyone felt the tension building.

“So he pulls over slowly and stops. Then, he reaches over to the bag ever… so… slowly,” Uma narrated with a dead serious expression, mimicking the dad’s movement by reaching over in Jane’s floorboard. Jane followed her hand’s movement, looking in her floorboard as she tried to imagine the scene.

“And he grabs ahold of the zipper, pulling it open to reveal,” Uma just stopped, and everyone gaped at her and her paused hand in Jane’s floorboard, hanging on the edge of their seats.

“What’s inside?!” Audrey finally demanded after a few moments of this torturous silence.

“Definitely a gun,” Evie murmured under her breath with a freaked-out expression on her face.

After a few beats, Uma spoke again.

“Nunya business,” Uma deadpanned, and immediately started laughing hard, falling back into her seat. Jane stared at her blankly, baffled by the way the story ended, and Mal turned back around to face the road with an exasperated expression. Evie’s brow furrowed as she considered the end and Audrey slapped her Uma’s leg in her frustration.

“You can’t end it like that!” Audrey protested, but Uma just kept guffawing.

“I can’t believe I seriously fell for that,” Mal spoke her thoughts aloud.

“I really want to know what’s in the bag,” Jane told them, completely puzzled.

After a few more moments of Audrey growing increasingly upset and Uma still chuckling, Evie decided she needed to divert them all from Uma’s little story.

“Why don’t we put on some tunes?” Evie suggested, trying to bring a bit of levity to a situation that only Uma found funny. Mal just looked at her with a raise of her eyebrow.

“Sure. It’s not like there’s anything better to do. I used up my best joke,” Uma told her, clearing her throat as she recovered from her laughing fit.

“Here, I’ve got a good one,” Audrey offered, reaching forward between Evie and Mal and pushing it in the CD slot.

_Ooh whoa, ooh whoa, ooh whoa_

“This crap’s gonna suck.”

“Shut up, it’s about to get good!” Audrey protested and Mal looked at Evie, thinking she vaguely recognized the tune.

_  
You know you love me, I know you care___  
Just shout whenever and I'll be there  
You are my love, you are my heart  
And we will never, ever, ever be apart

“Aww, poor girl,” Uma sarcastically commented, and Audrey elbowed her.

_Are we an item? Girl quit playin'___  
We're just friends, what are you sayin'  
Said there's another, look right in my eyes  
My first love, broke my heart for the first time

Mal immediately recognized that irritating high-pitched voice and she narrowed her eyes in dread as Evie suddenly looked way too excited for her liking as she sucked in a breath to sing along.

“This is a girl, right? Kinda sounded a little bit like a dude with how her voice got deeper in that last line.”

“It’s a guy!” Audrey shrieked in response, growing angrier by the second.

“Oh… I guess that explains it,” Uma shrugged, grinning wickedly at the look on Audrey’s face.

_ Baby, baby, baby, oh___  
Like baby, baby, baby, no  
Like baby, baby, baby, oh  
I thought you'd always be mine (mine)  
Baby, baby, baby, oh  
Like baby, baby, baby, no  
Like baby, baby, baby, ooh

“I think you’re killing me, me,” Uma sang along, and Audrey scowled at her.

_ Oh, for you, I would have done whatever_

“Alrighty, then, and that’s the end of that,” Mal told them, and stopped the CD, pulling it out quickly and handing it back to Audrey. Evie looked at her with a slightly disappointed expression, but she quickly returned to her usual neutral expression that she had throughout the car ride.

“That’s good music,” Audrey whined, and Uma let out a sharp bark of laughter.

“I think you need to get your ears examined or something because that’s crap,” Uma unashamedly told her. “That dude needs some testosterone or something, because puberty’s not treating him kindly.”

“I think he’s dreamy!” Audrey insisted.

“I think that if you go for idiots like that, I don’t know how you ended up with Jay,” Uma successfully ended the conversation and Audrey simply huffed as she looked out Jane’s window.

After a few beats of silence, something caught Audrey’s eye in the distance and she squinted, leaning forward a bit as she focused her attention upon it.

“Hey, there’s a hitchhiker! And he’s got a bag!” Audrey suddenly cried, pointing out the window at a figure far ahead.

“Revenge is not a good color on you, Princess,” Uma replied without looking, clearly not believing Audrey’s sudden announcement and thinking that she was simply trying to get back at Uma after the joke.

“No, really! Look!” Audrey pointed again. Bored, Uma shifted her gaze over in the direction Audrey was waving at, and her eyes widened.

“Well, son of a biscuit-eater,” Uma pronounced as she moved up to look between Mal and Evie. Jane leaned out her window a bit as the man was rapidly approaching.

“Evie, pull over, I want to see what’s in the bag!” Jane called. But to her chagrin, Evie instead hit the gas as hard as she could and sped by the man on the side of the road.

“What did you do that for?” Jane disappointedly questioned as she watched the form of the guy behind them.

“I didn’t want to be the butt of the joke,” Evie hesitantly admitted with a guilty smile, and Mal giggled in response.

“Personally, I’m glad she didn’t pull over,” Mal spoke up, growing more serious. “He could’ve been dangerous.”

“You’ve just been corrupted by my hitchhiker story. He could’ve been interesting,” Uma expressed, reclining in her seat and frowning as she dug Audrey’s pink sunglasses from underneath her. She examined them for a moment before putting them on her face curiously.

“Yeah, like put a gun to your head interesting!” Audrey told them, her brow furrowed concernedly as she pulled Jane so that her head wasn’t hanging out the window anymore.

“Check out my sick shades, y’all,” Uma suddenly spoke up, pursing her lips in and raising an eyebrow as she tilted her head to the side. Evie just snorted in response, and Mal laughed at Evie’s sudden random noise.

“Those are mine!” Audrey cried, trying to take them off of Uma’s face. She simply dodged Audrey’s invading hand, looking over at the pink princess.

“Then why were they sittin’ in my seat?” the pirate sassily questioned.

“Because they slid into it. Besides, you seriously need to work on your duckface,” Audrey snatched the sunglasses and poised them back upon her own face carefully.

“The heck’s a duckface?” Uma asked, her mind so stuck on Audrey’s use of modern lingo that she didn’t even attempt to win back the glasses.

“It’s stupid. Evie does it all the time,” Mal explained, looking over at Evie and noticing that Evie’s lips were pursed as she was driving. “See what I mean?” Mal huffed and Evie quickly relaxed her lips as she gaped at the other four who had begun laughing at her.

“What?! I’m focused on driving!”


	4. Gas Station Toilets... Ew...

“Ladies…. I do believe that I need to use the restroom. Like in an urgent sort of way,” Audrey told them all, desperately having to pee.

“What? You gotta go poo-poo?” Uma asked as if she were talking to a child. Audrey leaned away from her disgustedly and she slapped Uma’s arm. Mal worked diligently to hold back her mirth at the pink princess’s expense as her shoulders shook. However, Uma wasn’t quite as sparing in her laughter, and she unashamedly made fun of Audrey.

“You uncouth beast! I have to pee!” Audrey announced, and Mal started scanning the side of the road for a place to stop in an attempt to take her mind off of the urge to laugh.

“Good timing, Audrey. Charlene’s nearly out of fuel, so you guys be on the lookout for a gas station,” Evie instructed as she drove.

“I see a town up ahead,” Jane acknowledged, and Audrey was almost bouncing in her seat as she tried to hold it.

“Don’t worry, Audy, just think of waterfalls and rivers and the sound of a toilet flushing,” Uma described, leaning close to the brunette’s ear. Audrey eyed her angrily with a scowl.

They passed the last tree on their way through the forest and entered civilization once again. Audrey could feel her bladder about to bust and her leg bounced a little more furiously as she spotted all of the different opportunities for restroom-using.

“There’s a _Hearts_,” Uma told them, and Audrey excitedly looked over at the big heart on the sign.

“That place is no good. The last time I stopped at _Hearts_, there was no premium fuel available, and Charlene only takes the best,” Evie firmly informed them. Audrey felt her urge to pee grow a little stronger, and she bit her lip.

“Okay, then… What about that_ Speedtrack_?” Jane asked, and Evie shook her head.

“Crappy selection of drinks,” Evie negated, continuing in her driving. Audrey held back a whine and held her legs together a little tighter.

They had nearly left the town when Mal, the wonderful human being that she was, spotted one last opportunity for Audrey to pee and for them to get gas.

“Here’s something called a _Jify-Journey_,” Mal pointed at the gas station on the side of the road. It was a terribly run-down looking little place and it looked like it’d barely pump anything, much less premium gas like Evie had originally wanted.

Evie started to say something, no doubt in negation of Mal’s suggestion, but Audrey quickly interjected.

“JUST FLIPPIN’ TURN!” Evie begrudgingly pulled into the parking lot. Evie carefully wheeled in front of a pump and brought Charlene to a stop.

“Okay, you guys, let me feed the beast, and I’ll meet you inside,” the bluenette spoke, turning around to face them all. However, to her surprise, Audrey had just crawled over Uma’s lap and ran out the car door.

After a few moments of silence, Uma grinned, dispelling the surprised atmosphere at Audrey’s quick escape.

“Well, I guess she really did have to go,” Uma commented, turning and sliding out of the car door herself.

Audrey practically charged through the doors as she ran to the counter with an air of urgency that was not unlike the Queen of Mean. She slammed her hands on the counter, staring at the woman with wide eyes. The lady behind the counter jumped in surprise as she looked up from her task of counting the money in the cash register.

“Where is the restroom?” Audrey demanded, bouncing in place a bit as she resisted the urge to pee.

“Well, honey,” the woman started, and it was obvious that she was from Bayou de Orleans, “it’s right on back ‘dere on dat door to de right.” Audrey made a break for it as she rushed over to the hall desperately making her way to the toilet.

She opened the door and was immediately greeted with a nearly unholy smell. Audrey gagged, feeing her insides wrench with the motion. She stepped forward and dared look at the porcelain throne and was horrified to see that it was very much clogged.

Audrey covered her nose with her hand, leaning against the door in an attempt to keep what little was left of her breakfast down.

“Why ain’t you peeing?” Uma questioned, raising an eyebrow as she suddenly materialized beside the pink princess. The need to puke was quickly replaced by the need to pee, and Audrey recoiled disgustedly at the sight of the restroom as she started bouncing on the spot.

“Somebody sure trashed this bathroom,” Uma spoke aloud, surveying the little room with a slight grimace.

“I can’t use this bathroom,” Audrey announced, and she looked around, feeling as if she were going to burst.

“Well, go behind the building. Right out this door, see?” Uma pushed open the back door that led to the forest behind the place.

“I think not! I am a princess!”

“You planning on going in your pants, then, Princess?” Uma sassily asked her, and Audrey worriedly shifted her gaze between the open back door and the toilet inside the horrifying gas station.

“I just… I need privacy, and what if someone sees me back here?!” Audrey squeaked, and Uma shook her head exasperatedly.

“Are you worried about the chipmunks or the squirrels staring at your naked butt?” Uma asked, and Audrey shot her one last dirty look before finally deciding she would go outside. It was purely necessity that was driving her through that door, and she honestly couldn’t believe she was lowering herself to such a depth.

On the other side of the store, however, things were going much less disgustingly.

“Okay! Charlene’s all filled up,” Evie told Mal, the only one of the group that had stayed with her until she was through fueling the car. The bluenette stepped up into the Jeep and sat down, cranking the vehicle. “Mmm, mmm, _mmm_, listen to that hum,” Evie patted the wheel firmly with a loving gaze thrown at the car’s gas gauge. “That’s my little girl. Sounds just like her mama.”

Mal raised an eyebrow, equally creeped out and amused by Evie’s love for the Jeep. It was almost like she thought she gave birth to it or something.

“I think you like Charlene a little too much. Let’s park her closer to the building and then,” Mal paused dramatically as she looked at Evie from the passenger seat, “it’s snack time.”

Evie grinned in response and drove around to the storefront, parking Charlene. They then both got out and walked in.

“Welcome to Jify-Journey! How can we help you ‘dere?” the cashier greeted.

“We’re just grabbing some roadtrip snacks, but thank you,” Eve politely replied, and the two girls wandered over to the bagged snacks.

“Hey, E? Do you think Uma would like Doritos?” Mal questioned, picking up a chip bag. Evie glanced over from looking at the potato chips.

“Sure. Be sure to get some spicy ones, though. She’ll probably really love that,” Evie instructed, pointing at the red bag. Mal took it off of the shelf and started searching for something for Audrey and Jane.

“Mal? Do you want the Fritos or the barbeque chips? You’re really particular about that sometimes,” Evie checked, holding up two bags. Mal shrugged her shoulders and pointed at the barbeque chips.

“Jane might like the Fritos, though, so keep both of them,” Mal told her as she tried to figure out what she thought Audrey would like.

“Do you think veggie straws will work for Thorn?” Mal questioned. Evie simply nodded and took them from her. They were just about to go back to the cash register before Evie caught sight of a whole shelf of bright wrappers and boxes.

“Look at all the candy!” Evie exclaimed and Mal hurried behind her as Evie stared at all of the various candies, completely mesmerized.

“M! Look! Oreos!” Evie cried and Mal couldn’t help but compare her sister to an excited little girl. Mal walked over to her and wrapped an arm around her waist fondly.

“Yeah. Which kind are you getting?” Mal asked, despite the fact that she already knew exactly what Evie would pick. The bluenette looked at her with a raise of her eyebrow before picking up a package of original Oreos.

“Of course,” Mal nodded her head and Evie just grinned before looking through more of the selections.

“Mal? What is M&M’s?” Evie questioned, picking up a box that pleasantly rattled when she moved it. Mal raised an eyebrow and leaned in closer to look at it.

“Looks like some kind of chocolate,” Mal assessed, and she glanced at the bluenette who had an adorable pout on her face. Mal squeezed Evie tightly before letting her go.

“E, if you want it, then get it. It looks good,” Mal told her, and Evie’s eyes lit up excitedly. Mal felt her heart ache painfully for her friend, knowing how much Evie the brown-eyed girl valued sweets since they were so rare on the Isle. Mal guessed it was probably hard for Evie to realize that she could just buy them easily now.

“What about these? Or these? Ooh! And these?” Evie picked up several containers of various types of chocolate candies, and Mal nodded her head with a fond smile before they headed over to the drinks that were available.

Mal quickly grabbed out a bottle of chocolate milk from the refrigerators and handed it to Evie, taking a bottle of strawberry punch for herself. She then withdrew a plain milk container, a bottle of water, and some green tea for the other girls, and her and Evie headed over to the cashier.

As soon as they reached the counter, they saw Jane leaning on the counter and scratching at a piece of paper.

Mal furrowed her brow and looked at Evie, but the bluenette was currently way too invested in her chocolate to even acknowledge Mal’s questioning gaze.

Mal walked over to Jane with Evie in tow and she looked over the younger girl’s shoulder.

“What are you doing?” Mal finally inquired and Jane jumped in shock as she tried to hide the paper behind her back.

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” Jane lied, and even if Mal hadn’t seen Jane with the paper, she could easily see right through the fib. The purple-haired girl snapped her fingers to the left of Jane to temporarily distract her, and she reached around her back and took the ticket.

“‘_Win Big Bucks_!_ Scratchums_!’” Mal read the front of the paper and she grinned at Jane mischievously. The blue-eyed girl looked terribly embarrassed and ashamed of herself. Mal walked over so that she was standing beside her, and shouldered her gently, pointing to the card.

“So, have you won anything?” Mal asked, and Jane looked a little calmer once she realized it was not against the rules, or at least that Mal wouldn’t judge her over it.

“No, but I might with this ticket. So far, all the numbers seem to be lining up,” Jane grinned wildly and Mal took the coin from the counter, offering it to her.

“Go, girl. See if you get anything,” Mal told her with a smile, and Jane leapt into action, scratching away at the card.

After a few seconds, Jane gasped and squealed, hopping up and down as she practically shoved the card in Mal’s face.

“LOOK! I got five dollars!” Jane proudly exclaimed and Mal forced an excited grin for her benefit. Five dollars really wasn’t that great, but Mal figured it was better than nothing at all for the girl’s efforts.

“Cool!” Mal replied.

They paid for their snacks and they were just starting to head out the door when Mal suggested that they all pee just in case they needed to go later in the trip. Evie easily agreed, saying that it would reduce the amount of stops they’d have to make.

Mal, followed by Jane, strode to the back of the store. Evie was going to come back after she had loaded the Jeep with the snacks.

When she reached the hall, however, the faerie’s eyes widened as she saw Uma leaned against the doorframe of the exit leading to outside.

“Where’s Audrey?” Mal asked, and Uma groaned.

“Don’t ask me where she’s at, ask me where’s she’s been. That girl’s been running around the back of this store like a chicken with its head cut off, insisting that none of the spots she chooses to pee at are good enough,” Uma complained.

“Why didn’t she use the toilet in here?” Jane questioned, furrowing her brow.

“Take a look for yourself if you’re that curious. However, let me warn you, it induces immediate barf.” Mal nodded, understanding exactly what Uma meant, and she walked over nearby the door so that she could speak to Audrey.

“Thorn, do you think you could hurry it up out there? There’s a line,” Mal told her.

“I’m working on it! I just can’t bring myself to go out here!” Audrey whined.

“I can help with that!” Uma called, grinning at Mal as she pounded her fist into her palm. Mal rolled her eyes and leaned against the opposite side of the doorframe.

Soon enough, Audrey came back in and they each took their turns. Before long, they were back in the Jeep and on the road again.

“Here, Audrey, we got you some green tea and veggie straws; Uma, we got you plain milk and spicy Doritos; and Jane, we got you Fritos and water,” Mal handed all of the items back to the three passengers behind her and there were varying expressions of gratitude amongst them.

“And you’re free to any of the chocolate in this bag,” Mal told them, passing it to Uma.

The dark-skinned girl sifted through the bag with a bored expression, but it shifted to a more curious look as she pulled out a wrapper full of Whoppers. She opened the wrapper and popped one into her mouth, her entire face lighting up when the flavor burst into her mouth.

Audrey took the bag from Uma and passed it to Jane. The younger girl opened the bag and examined the contents carefully before withdrawing a box of M&M’s. She happily chomped on her candies and gave the bag to Audrey.

The pink princess started to send it up to Mal, but she paused upon the sight of a certain color of wrapper. She quickly reached inside to withdraw a York Peppermint Pattie. An almost childlike expression of wonder was immediately on her face as she opened it and took a big bite. She hummed blissfully as she contentedly chewed the chocolate and the filling.

“That looks good. Mind if I have a bite?” Uma innocently questioned. “I’ll give you some whoppers.”

Audrey immediately lost whatever sweetness was on her face in favor of a greedy monster as she clung to her chocolate.

“Mine!”


	5. The Cozy Cottage

“Hold your tongue out of your mouth and say pirate ship,” Uma instructed, and Evie couldn’t resist using one hand to try it out.

“Pile-a shi,” Evie spoke and she confusedly listened to her voice as Uma burst into boisterous, and nigh drunken laughter.

“Pile-a shi!” Evie exclaimed once again, and Uma just laughed harder. Mal shook her head with a grin and couldn’t help but enjoy Uma’s humor.

“I think you’re trying to get her to say a dirty word,” Jane told her, her statement quickly followed by a big yawn.

“That’s kind of the idea,” Mal told her with a tired chuckle. Audrey yawned in response and closed her eyes as she leaned back against the seat, the darkness of the outside starting to lull her to sleep.

“Let’s look for a place to stop,” Mal murmured to Evie, noting the exhausted aura emanating from the backseat. The bluenette nodded, feeling her own eyelids start to grow heavy at the idea of stopping.

Mal reached over and put her hand on Evie’s that was resting on the wheel, squeezing it gently in an attempt to keep her awake. The bluenette looked over at the green-eyed girl gratefully and she removed her hand from the wheel, lacing her fingers with Mal’s firmly as she straightened.

“Pirate ship,” Uma mumbled under her breath with a chuckle, nearly incoherently as Audrey subconsciously frowned at the sound of Uma’s mirth.

After a few more long minutes of driving, Evie spotted a small, cozy-looking motel on the side of the road that looked like it would work excellently for an overnight stay. She slowed Charlene and turned her carefully so that she was in the parking lot of the building.

Evie turned off the car with a sigh and looked at Mal with a soft, loving smile. Mal responded with an upward curl of her lips as she turned to look back at Uma, Jane, and Audrey.

The pink princess currently had her head resting on Uma’s shoulder as she snoozed quietly, and Uma’s head was leaned against the window, her eyes shut as well. Jane was awake but barely, and her head kept dipping and raising back up in a manner that was reminiscent of a sleepy toddler.

Evie and Mal got out of the car quietly, locking the doors on the car as they headed for the inside of the motel to buy rooms for the five of them.

They walked in and the first thing that Evie noticed about the place was that it desperately needed a change in lighting. The harsh fluorescent glow of the bulbs hanging from the ceiling did not give off a welcoming atmosphere.

There was a wrinkly old man and woman working behind the counter and when Mal and Evie approached them, they turned quickly. Evie sucked in a breath of terror upon the sight of the two of them.

They were almost like twins from a creepy movie. Their eyes were wide and were almost protruding from their skulls and they suddenly smiled at the two girls.

Evie glance at Mal, bordering on completely horrified and ready to run, but noted that Mal seemed completely unbothered by the two elderly people.

“Hello, sweeties,” the old woman spoke to the both of them with a snaggle-toothed grin. “What can we do for you?” She sounded so falsely sweet. Almost like the wicked witch with Hansel and Gretel that almost ate them.

Evie was about to bolt when Mal grabbed her arm firmly, keeping her grounded there beside her.

“Yes, actually. We would like a room. There’s five of us in all,” Mal explained and the old man slowly tilted his head to the side.

“Of course. We only have one bed, though. I hope that’s not a problem,” the fellow explained, and Evie could’ve sworn that he was practically leering at her with his creepy gaze. Mal hesitated for a moment, considering what he had said, but she quickly recovered, agreeing easily.

“No, that’s not a problem. Will this work for payment?” Mal questioned, offering her credit card. The two smiled widely and nodded eagerly.

“Certainly. Just give me a moment,” the woman took the card carefully and scanned it before handing it back to Mal.

“Here’s your keys,” the old man offered them to Evie with a wink, and she couldn’t restrain her flinch as his hand approached her. Mal fortunately saved her from having to take them from him, simply grabbing them herself.

“Oh, and my name’s Rose and his name is Ross. We’re twins,” the elderly woman introduced, and Evie felt a jolt of fear run through her veins upon the realization that they were just like those creepy twins that she had remembered.

“We’ve got a pool out back if you feel like taking a dip,” the man told them. “And if you need anything at all or have any more questions, be sure to just come down and ask.”

“Okay, then! We’ll get our friends and head upstairs,” Mal smiled sincerely, turning and starting for the door. Evie stayed close behind her, feeling increasingly unnerved as she considered the experience.

As soon as they were out the door, Evie launched into her desperate plea.

“M, let’s not stay here!”

“Why not?”

“Did you see those people?!” Evie frantically questioned. “That old man was _ogling_ me!”

“Evie, he was not ogling you. He looked at you only twice.”

“He winked at me!” Mal simply rolled her eyes as she started to open her door on the Jeep.

“Oh, and they’re twins! That’s a definite sign of evil demons!” Evie quickly added as she clung onto Mal’s arm tightly in the midst of her fear-induced hysteria.

“E, you’re practically smothering what could be considered an evil demon right now,” Mal couldn’t help but remind her as she waited patiently for Evie to release her.

“Yeah, but you’re a sweet demon,” Evie explained, letting go of Mal finally. The purple-haired girl sighed and shook her head at Evie with a small smile before opening the door.

She leaned in and looked at the three in the back before climbing in and gently shaking Jane awake.

“Come on, we’re stopped for the night. We’ve got a room at this place,” Mal spoke softly, but still loudly enough that she would perhaps awaken the other two as well.

Jane blinked drowsily and looked up at Mal with a confused expression, shifting her bleary gaze over to the sign just outside her window. She stretched slowly, trying to wake up enough to get out the car door without falling on her face.

Uma’s mouth had actually managed to fall open, and drool was oozing ever so slightly out the side of her mouth as she snored quietly.

Mal reached over and squeezed Uma’s knee gently in hopes that it would wake her up. Sure enough, it turned out that Uma was a very light sleeper and she jerked awake, wiping away the drool from her face as she stared at Mal wildly.

“Uma?” Mal asked and Uma shook her head as if she were clearing it, quickly gaining a more alert look to her.

“Did I scare you?” Mal asked. Uma shrugged and cleared her throat, looking down at the princess that had decided to make her shoulder a pillow. Uma moved her shoulder underneath Audrey and the girl slowly rose up, looking around in a daze.

“Where are we?” Audrey sleepily asked.

“At a motel. We’re going to crash here for the night,” Mal informed her as she pulled out her and Evie’s suitcases, getting out the vehicle. Uma was the first to join Mal and Evie, her arms raised in a gargantuan stretch.

“Hmm… _The Cozy Cottage_? Sounds like something out of a horror story,” Uma commented as Audrey and Jane crawled out of the vehicle behind them.

Audrey emerged with a suitcase that was no doubt packed to the brim with clothes, and Jane moved around Audrey, leaned in the backseat, and took her own suitcase out of the back of the Jeep.

“Uma, do you want me to get your suitcase, too?” Jane offered and Uma agreed, yawning as she sidled up to Mal.

Jane pulled out Uma’s suitcase as well as her own, and the five of them walked in the motel.

“You girls have a nice night and sleep well,” the two old people synchronously expressed, and Jane nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of them. Uma was complete unbothered and didn’t even pay attention to them. Evie clung on tighter to Mal, and Audrey just looked at them with a strange expression.

“You, too,” Audrey automatically replied, the lesson to respect one’s elders firmly instilled within her.

The three of them went upstairs and Mal read the number on her keychain that she was given.

“Number thirteen,” Mal spoke aloud.

“That’s an unlucky number,” Uma unhelpfully noted. Mal just shrugged and was practically dragging Evie down the hall at this point.

“M, this has got sudden death and murder written all over it! Let’s go back to the car!” Evie cried, pulling on the shorter girl. Mal grunted as she attempted to yank the bluenette behind her.

“Evie, I promise it’s fine, c’mon!” Mal struggled, failing miserably at dragging Evie because the brown-eyed girl’s feet were locked into the carpet.

“Thorn, do you mind carrying this for me?” Mal told her, proffering her suitcase in Audrey’s direction as she tugged. Audrey nodded, taking it from her easily.

After a few more moments of this torturous endeavor, Uma took pity on Mal and grabbed Evie’s other arm. Between the faerie and the pirate, they managed to get her into their room.

As soon as Audrey walked in, she was highly displeased.

“There’s one bed?” Audrey asked. Jane came in behind the princess and Uma quickly shut the door before letting go of Evie. Mal tried to release Evie, too, but it didn’t work in the least because at this point, Evie was too freaked out to even think of letting go.

“Yeah. They only had one available,” Mal informed her. Audrey winced, imagining what it was going to be like to share a bed with the one person that loved to torture her most.

“Well, might as well get changed into your jammies,” Uma announced, taking her suitcase from Jane and throwing it onto the bed. She opened it and pulled out her nightshirt and thin tights. She then proceeded to rip off her shirt.

Jane headed to the restroom with her clothes and Audrey returned Mal’s suitcase to her, waiting by the bathroom door for her turn to enter.

Mal along with the blue koala bear on her back headed over to the other side of the bed to change. Mal sat her suitcase down on the bed and tried diligently to pry Evie off of her.

“You need to change. I’ll be right here,” Mal told her, truly not understanding this absurd fear of Evie’s but she was willing to be patient with her.

Evie hesitantly began changing and Mal quickly followed suit.

Before long, everyone was changed, and they were trying to figure out the bed hierarchy.

“I’ll sleep on an end. It ain’t no biggie,” Uma offered and Mal slowly nodded.

“I’ll sleep on a far side, too. Evie and Audrey should sandwich Jane. She looks terrified,” Mal murmured to Audrey as well as Uma and completely inevitably to Evie.

It was very unfortunately true. Jane was jumping at every sound and every motion, looking ready to bolt. The other three easily agreed with her idea upon the sight of the poor young girl.

Mal pulled back the quilts with Uma’s help and Uma settled in on one side. Audrey crawled up and settled down a considerable distance from Uma.

“Evie, lay down, would you?” Evie didn’t really listen well, and Mal assumed she was still stuck on the old people from earlier. Mal looked Evie in the eyes.

“Take a deep breath and calm down. It’s fine. Me and Uma could kick those old people’s butts easy. I have magic, and two little elderly twins aren’t going to be able to stand up to that,” Mal explained to her.

“Is there any question of whether I could crack open a can of whoop-butt? I mean seriously, y’all. Check out these guns,” Uma confidently told them as she flexed her arms from her place laying on the bed. Audrey scoffed, rolling her eyes.

“Jay’s got you beat by a mile. Have you seen his arms?” Audrey told Uma, a ridiculously dopey grin on her face at the mere thought of the muscles on her boyfriend.

“Uh… No… But since we’re in a measuring contest with the boys, Harry’s biceps are bigger,” Uma smiled widely.

“I think you’re a pirate ship,” Audrey told her, and everyone couldn’t help but laugh at Audrey’s attempt of using Uma’s phrase against her. It wasn’t very well-executed, but it was humorous.

Mal could see Evie relaxing and unwinding from her earlier panic as she eased down and sat in the bed. Mal caught Uma’s gaze, mouthing a thank you. Uma just winked at her, keeping up her banter with Audrey.

They settled in the bed, Jane in the center, and everyone couldn’t help but notice how crowded and hot and uncomfortable it was.

“Get your cold feet off me!” Audrey cried out, jerking her legs away from Uma’s freezing toes. She paused before moving back over to the dark-skinned girl’s feet. “On second thought, bring them back, it might cool me down from this horribly uncomfortable bed.”

There was a creak of the mattress as Audrey shifted on the bed, and Jane nearly came unhinged.

“Guys, what was that noise?” Jane suddenly questioned, pulling the covers up to her nose as she gazed wide-eyed around the room. The many shadows dancing on the wall didn’t help her nervousness at all.

“I think I heard it, too,” Evie suddenly spoke, and Mal resisted the urge to groan as Evie wrapped herself around the purple-haired girl.

“Great, Jane, you’ve got Evie being paranoid again,” Mal couldn’t help but comment. “Girls, it was the bed making noise.”

“I think you’re a hotbox or something, because you’re producing heat like a fire,” Uma told Audrey, trying to scoot closer to the edge and further away from the pink princess.

“OW! Something bit me!” Audrey yelped, and Uma rose up a little bit to look at her. “You pinched me, didn’t you?” Audrey accused the pirate. Uma rolled her eyes, flopping back down on the bed.

“Whatever you have to tell yourself. I didn’t touch you, though,” Uma replied. Audrey yelped again at the feel of another nipping sensation.

“You’re pinching me!” Audrey insisted.

“I’m not touching you! You see my hands?” Uma questioned, turning and holding them in front of Audrey’s face.

“Don’t touch me, you pincher!” Audrey offendedly proclaimed.

“I’m not touching!” Uma told her, edging her hands forward until they were almost in contact with Audrey’s face.

“You’re touching!”

“Not touching!”

“Would you shut up?!” Mal finally exclaimed, and the other four jumped at her sudden outburst.

“Ouch!” Evie suddenly squeaked, and Mal turned her head incrementally to look at her.

“If you start whining about me pinching you, too, I’m throwing you off the bed,” Uma suddenly announced just as Jane squeaked in pain.

“What is biting me?!” Jane exclaimed, and Mal finally felt what the three people in the middle were experiencing. Mal reached underneath her swiftly, pulling out the small perpetrator. Mal groaned and flicked the small creature across the room.

“It’s bed bugs, you guys,” Mal groaned, and she steeled herself for the inevitable tirade that was surely to follow her statement.

“Bed bugs?!!!” Audrey immediately screeched and Mal buried her face in the pillow with a groan, Evie still clinging to her smaller form.

“You’ll get used to it,” Uma explained, repositioning herself on the mattress so that she was laying on her back.

“I can’t sleep in a bed with bugs!” Audrey cried out.

“Don’t worry, I don’t really think there’s that many anyway. You would be getting practically eaten alive by now if there were a lot of them,” Mal reassured her.

Audrey shifted uncomfortably at the very idea of remaining in the bed. She didn’t want to stay in it, but she didn’t want to sleep in the uncomfortable car either.

There were several beats of silence until Jane jerked, startling Evie who just grabbed onto Mal tighter.

“Guys, I heard something!”

“DANGIT, GO TO SLEEP!”


	6. The Nighttime Fiasco

Mal opened her eyes almost painfully as she looked at the time on the alarm clock. It was four o’clock in the morning and it was practically torture in the bed.

Nothing had gone right so far in this cursed motel, and it was by a pure miracle that Evie and Jane finally went to sleep in the midst of their fear. Audrey had finally passed out because if she closed her eyes for even a moment on a semi-comfy surface, she could go to sleep. Mal assumed Uma fell asleep because Mal hadn’t heard another word from her after her angry outburst. Mal had just been terribly unlucky in the field that was sleeping well.

Mal slowly rose up and shook her head, considering going for a walk so it would perhaps help her sleep. Everyone else was asleep and she figured it probably wouldn’t hurt anything if she was gone for a few minutes.

She pulled herself gently out of Evie’s asleep grasp and she pulled on her shoes before quietly standing up.

“Mal? You awake?” Uma’s hushed voice carried over to her, and Mal whispered an affirmation of her consciousness. “Where are you going?” the dark-skinned girl questioned, rising up herself.

“For a walk so maybe I’ll get more tired,” Mal responded. She approached the door and she suddenly heard the bed creak. She turned and saw that Uma was starting to put on her shoes as well.

“Mind if I join you?” Uma asked, and Mal nodded, her hand resting on the doorknob as she waited on Uma to get up.

The pirate arose and joined her nearby the door. Mal opened it carefully and the two girls slipped out, closing the door carefully behind them.

Mal sidled up to Uma and they traversed down the stairs together, walking out the door.

When they went out the door, Mal looked up at the sky and grinned at the sight of all the stars. They never failed to bring joy to the purple-haired girl. Uma gazed at them with her.

“Remember when we used to climb on the tallest building we could possibly scramble up in hopes of seeing the stars?” Mal quietly questioned, and Uma nodded, brought back to fond memories.

“Yeah, and you’d try to call up all kinds of magic so maybe we could, but never get anywhere at all,” Uma chuckled, looking at Mal in an unusual show of affection.

“Those were the good old days, weren’t they?” Mal asked, and Uma agreed. She looked at the stars for a moment more before glancing over at Mal.

“You ever miss them?”

“I do. A lot, actually,” Mal confessed softly.

“Anything beats this, though. We’re out here in the middle of the night at four in the morning at a crappy motel with bedbugs and creepy old people,” Uma deadpanned, and Mal laughed at her phrasing of the situation.

“All in the name of Evie’s grand girls’ trip,” Mal smiled, waving her arm in a grand sort of gesture. Uma nodded, concurring with Mal’s statement.

“Today was rough, but everything’ll go better tomorrow, I’ll bet,” Uma allowed a bit of optimism to shine through her normally so sarcastic exterior.

“Yeah. I think so,” Mal quietly replied. They stared at the twinkling lights in the night sky a bit longer before Mal pushed herself into motion, heading toward the back of the motel.

“What’re you doing?”

“Seeing what the pool looks like,” Mal told her. Uma hurried quickly to follow her, feeling lucky indeed to have her best friend and partner in crime back in her life.

However, things were about to get much less lucky and peaceful with the other three girls.

Evie woke up with a start. The first thing she noticed was that Mal had completely disappeared from her side. The second thing was that her side that was against the mattress was itching terribly. Evie slowly and carefully sat up and glanced around the room.

There was absolutely no sign of her purple-haired friend. Evie’s breath hitched as she noticed Uma wasn’t beside Audrey either. Evie looked to the bathroom in hopes that one of them had to pee.

“Mal? Uma?” Evie whispered, her voice rough with sleep. To her horror, there was no response whatsoever.

Evie looked around the room, freaking out as she realized that the only people in the room besides herself were Jane and Audrey. Her sister had completely disappeared, and she had absolutely no one to protect her now.

“Audrey?” Evie questioned, grabbing the pink princess’s shoulder and shaking her awake. Audrey just kept sleeping. Evie tried harder, squeezing it and trying to get her to respond. Apparently, Audrey was a very deep sleeper.

“Audrey!” Evie whisper yelled. Audrey finally stirred and opened her eyes just barely as she looked up at Evie in her panic.

“What?” the brunette questioned, and Evie failed to note the irritation in her tone.

“Uma and Mal are gone!” Evie told her. Audrey raised an eyebrow drowsily, propping herself up on her elbows and looking over at Uma’s spot. She glanced over to the other side of the bed and noted that it was empty, too.

“Well, now I have more space,” Audrey sleepily told Evie, stretching out in a very un-princess-like manner as she gladly took Uma’s place. Evie rolled her eyes in frantic exasperation and grabbed her shoulder once again.

“I think they’ve been kidnapped!” Evie hissed furiously. Audrey opened one eye to look at Evie as she rolled over to face the door.

“I don’t think so.”

“Stay awake with me!” Evie cried and accidentally bumped Jane in the process of her scooting nearer to the other two.

“What’re you doing?” Jane blearily questioned.

“Mal and Uma have been kidnapped,” Evie gave her the status update. Jane was immediately more alert, and she moved back so she was sitting against the headboard, the quilts pulled protectively up to her chin.

“Was it the old people?” Jane worriedly demanded, and Evie shrugged her shoulders, yanking the covers up to her chin, too.

“I don’t know. I woke up and they were gone!” Audrey huffed and rolled her eyes before raising up with the other two.

“Nobody’s kidnapped. Those elderly people are odd, but they’re not criminals,” Audrey rationalized. “Now go back to sleep.”

“Jane?” Evie suddenly spoke.

“What?”

“They stole Mal’s shoes that I made for her! They’re boot burglars!” Evie cried and clung onto Jane tightly. Jane leaned over Audrey and she saw that Uma’s shoes were nowhere in sight either.

“They took Uma’s, too,” Jane whispered, looking even more fearful than before if it was at all possible. Audrey groaned and looked at the other two.

“There is absolutely nothing wrong! They probably went for a walk or something!” Audrey suggested, but the other two were beyond seeing reason.

All of a sudden there were synchronized footsteps in the hall. Jane gasped and Evie gaped at the door in horror, noticing that it wasn’t locked.

Evie darted out from under the covers, going on pure adrenaline and terror, and rushed to the door. She swiftly locked it, backing away and leaping into the safety of the mattress. Jane grabbed onto Evie, trembling. Audrey was actually starting to feel a little afraid and she scooted just a bit closer to Jane and Evie.

The footsteps were growing ever closer and Evie’s eyes widened in sheer unadulterated terror. They paused just in front of their bedroom door and Evie almost screamed when the crazy people tried to open the door.

There were muffled voices on the other side and Jane’s mouth was moving like a fish out of water. Evie was almost going to faint, but she was too transfixed by the doorknob rattling.

“Open the door!” a voice suddenly reached their ears and Audrey rolled her eyes, all tension in her form lost as she stood up and headed for the door.

“No, Audrey! It’s their demonic voice change!” Evie cried out, and Audrey paused just outside the door.

“Let me in!” Uma raised her voice, knocking on the door and trying to open it.

“Ooh, I know! Ask them a question that only the real Mal or Uma would know,” Jane suggested. “It always works in the movies.”

“Okay, then… What should I ask?” Audrey questioned, choosing to be kind enough to humor them for at least a moment.

“Evie’s middle name is Catarina!” Mal suddenly announced and Evie paled a bit as the other two girls stared at her.

“Catarina?” Jane questioned with an eyebrow raise. Evie nodded shyly, looking at the door with a sheepish expression.

“Evie wears a size thirty-six-B bra!” Mal shouted, further embarrassing the bluenette.

“One time when trying to steal something for her mother, Evie kissed H-”

“Let her in!” Evie interrupted, a burning red blush on her face as she realized how silly she was being and also because Mal was seriously humiliating her.

Audrey shrugged and easily opened the door. Uma and Mal walked in and Audrey grabbed Mal’s arm when she was even with the pink princess.

“Tell me about who Evie kissed when it’s just me and you,” Audrey requested, and Mal grinned conspiratorially at her.

“I’m sorry, but I’m sworn to secrecy. Pry it out of Uma since she knows, too. Boy, does she know,” Mal laughed and Audrey felt her curiosity peak to a new height as she looked at the dark-skinned girl who was settling back into the bed.

Mal headed back over to her side of the bed, settling in once again and she felt someone’s gaze on the back of her head. Mal rolled over to see who it was and noticed Evie staring at her firmly.

“What’s wrong?” Mal asked.

“You almost told the-instance-that-shall-not-be-named,” Evie sniffed, and Mal rolled her eyes, smiling softly at her sister since she knew that Evie was just embarrassed and not mad at her.

“What is the-instance-that-shall-not-be-named?” Audrey questioned innocently.

“It shall not be named,” Evie simply replied and Mal chuckled at her.

No matter what happened on this road trip, Mal was glad that she was enjoying it with these four girls. Tomorrow was a new day and it would most assuredly be better.

Really? What’s the worst thing that could happen to them?


	7. Rueful Road Rage

Mal let out an enormous yawn as she went downstairs with the other four girls. They had all gathered their things and were ready to leave early. Honestly, no one could stand staying in that bed for any longer.

Mal immediately realized that the old man and woman were sitting at the desk once again, and she glanced at Evie to gauge her expression. The bluenette had most assuredly saw them and she kept her gaze on the floor as she started on her way out.

“Bye, kids! I hope you had a nice stay,” the elderly lady grinned, looking at all of them.

“See you, Evie Catarina with a size thirty-six-B bra!” the old man shouted with a cackle just as Evie was nearly out the door. She squeaked and slammed the door behind her, running as fast as she could to Charlene.

Mal resisted the urge to laugh as she waved at the twins. She knew that they had to have heard her yelling from the previous night.

“So long, Mal Bertha!” the two of them synchronously spoke and Mal’s eyeballs nearly fell out of her head. She looked back at them and they just smiled with a knowing look. Mal quickly scurried out the door behind everyone.

Uma, Jane, and Audrey all started to pile in the backseat of the vehicle and Mal got in quickly, passing her suitcase to the others so they could put it behind them.

“Does everyone have their suitcases?” Evie checked last-minute with a falsely cheery grin as she was about to crank Charlene.

Everyone nodded and expressed varying affirmations in response to Evie’s inquiry.

Evie suppressed the urge to yawn as she started the Jeep up, quickly backing out of the parking lot and starting her way onto the road. She needed away from this nutty motel.

Mal looked out the window, internally sighing in relief at the sight of the sign for _The Cozy Cottage_ growing farther away from them.

The growing silence didn’t disturb anyone else, but it was starting to really bother Audrey. She was so used to Uma constantly pestering her and bothering her that when Uma wasn’t performing her normal antics, it was almost disturbing.

Plus, Uma’s aggravation meant that Audrey was part of the group. Even after her initial hatred of VKs, they were accepting of her and allowed her to try to make up for all that she had done as well as how she had acted.

So, Uma not talking to and making fun of her simply would not do.

There were a few more moments of silence, and Audrey cleared her throat, dispelling the quiet surrounding them.

“Well, Uma, don’t you have anything to say?” the pink princess questioned, almost desperately. Uma shrugged, glancing in the other girl’s direction.

“Forgive me, your highness, but I seem to have run out of go-juice. Something about having absolutely no sleep tends to leave one a little quiet,” Uma replied sarcastically with only a hint of her usual joking, rowdy bite.

“Well, Mal, are you going to talk?”

“I can. What do you want to talk about?” Mal absent-mindedly asked, her brain not truly focused on Audrey’s inquiry in the midst of her exhausted stupor.

Audrey barely held back the huff of frustration as she looked at everyone in the car, but mostly Uma.

“Gosh, I wish things would get a little bit more exciting. You’ve been torturing me nonstop since we started this trip. I expect better from you,” Audrey disapprovingly reprimanded Uma as she lightly slapped her knee. Uma rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Audrey, and the pink princess was pleased to see at least a little bit of her personality shining through.

However, something exciting _did _happen. Much more exciting than Audrey could have ever possibly began to fathom.

A vehicle suddenly approached the back of Charlene and the person inside made the truly terrible decision of honking loudly at her and illegally passing her on the road. Mal could immediately see Evie’s tired eyes grow startlingly alert as she set her jaw in complete irritation.

The purple-haired girl reached over and touched Evie’s shoulder just barely, trying to calm her from her rapidly-building road rage.

“Evie, it’s okay. That guy’s an idiot. He shouldn’t have went around-”

Before Mal could finish that statement, Evie hit the gas, shooting forward in hot pursuit of the person who had dared pass her. Mal grabbed onto the armrest and the door, knowing Evie wouldn’t be satisfied until she rode the man’s bumper and honked at him for at least fifteen minutes.

Uma was immediately on edge, her wide-eyed stare focused in front of them upon the vehicle that they were quickly approaching. Audrey looked like she was about to wet her pants and Jane gasped.

“What are you doing?!” Uma shouted as Evie continued to press the gas. They zipped past a bridge and before they knew it, there were bright blue lights flashing behind them. Audrey looked back and nearly came unglued as she reached up and shook Mal’s shoulder.

“There’s a policeman behind us!” Audrey screeched and Mal grabbed Evie’s arm.

“E, pull over, there’s a cop,” Mal told her. Evie was shaken from her rage-induced insensibility and she quickly rolled to the side of the road, slowing down significantly.

She stopped and turned the car off, looking into her rearview mirror as she watched the man exit the vehicle.

Audrey was flipping out and Uma was currently trying to sink down further into her seat so she wouldn’t be so easily noticed. Jane looked like she might faint.

“I’m too pretty to go to jail!” Audrey whisper-yelled, completely panicked and Mal shook her head in exasperation.

“Thorn, nobody’s going to jail. Evie’s getting a ticket, but nobody’s going to jail,” Mal reassured her. Evie shot Mal a dirty look before putting a faux confused look on her face as she rolled down the window.

“Hello, Officer. What happens to be the problem?” Evie questioned sweetly and cluelessly and Mal resisted the urge to facepalm. Lying and trickery was really not the way to approach this.

“Ma’am, do you know how many miles over the speed limit that you were going?” the policeman asked her, completely unimpressed with her innocent act. Evie flashed him one of those big grins that showcased all of her shining, beautifully white teeth.

“I wasn’t aware there was one of those on this road,” Evie attempted to charm with her soulful brown eyes practically oozing with that honeyed gaze that she had so much experience with.

“Besides, it couldn’t have been that much. Maybe five at most,” Evie giggled, and the officer lowered his sunglasses, raising an eyebrow as he studied her.

“Try twenty-five,” the man told her, his gaze stern. Evie’s practically blinding grin lost a few watts as she considered this statement.

“Well, there was no one on the road, so I don’t really think it was hurting anything,” Evie forced a laugh and Mal rolled her eyes, looking out her window as she listened to Evie digging herself even deeper into a ticket.

“Let me see your driver’s license,” the cop exasperatedly instructed. Evie sighed under her breath as she reached over for her purse in Mal’s floorboard, withdrawing her license and handing it to the officer.

“I’ll be right back,” he drawled, turning to get back in his car for a moment. As soon as he was gone, Mal grinned sarcastically at Evie as she batted her eyelashes in a poor imitation of her sister.

“‘Oh, I didn’t know there were speed limits on this road! Tee-hee-hee! Never mind the fact that there’s a sign showing the speed limit right next to the car!’” Mal mimicked in a high-pitched, sugary voice and Evie crossed her arms over her chest defensively.

“What was I supposed to say?! Yes, sir, I know that I was way over the speed limit and therefore breaking the law?!” Evie questioned desperately, and Mal groaned.

“E, how many tickets have you gotten in the past month for this exact same reason?” Mal asked, looking at the other girl as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Three,” Evie mumbled reluctantly, and Mal huffed.

“Maybe next time, I should drive,” Mal told her, and it came out a bit more harshly than she intended. She immediately winced, looking at Evie to gauge the damage done.

The bluenette looked down at the steering wheel and Mal could easily see that she was hurt by Mal’s comment. Just as she was about to begin to apologize, Uma spoke up.

“He’s coming back, y’all, and he’s got cuffs!” Uma exclaimed, and it was perhaps the most nervous that Mal had ever heard her outside of near-death situations and dire circumstances.

Mal looked back to see what Uma was talking about and sure enough, the cop was carrying five sets of handcuffs in his grasp. Mal let her head fall back against her seat as she sighed in complete frustration.

“Well, Audrey, looks like we _are_ going to jail today.”


	8. Idiot Cinderellasburg Officer

“You’re being brought in for questioning because you five are the last people that were spotted on the video cameras at the _Jify-Journey _before a robbery occurred,” the officer informed them in his idiotic-sounding voice, as he shoved them toward the police car.

Evie furrowed her brow, remembering the crappy little gas station from the day before. She climbed in the vehicle without a word, not feeling like arguing with him after how she had reacted to Mal.

The truth was that Mal had struck a chord inside of her, and a very sensitive one at that. Ever since the tire went flat, nothing had went right. Everyone was constantly bickering about something and everywhere they stopped was a disgusting hole.

Evie felt terribly guilty about everything, and she felt awful for making Mal feel bad. She wasn’t upset with Mal at all, and if everyone else wasn’t listening she’d eagerly apologize and try to make up with her.

“Sir, I am the Queen of Auradon,” Mal sassily responded to the cop, and he raised an eyebrow at her.

“And I’m Princess Audrey of Auroria!” Audrey added desperately.

“I’m the daughter of the Fairy Godmother!” Jane fearfully explained.

“I’m an innocent hitchhiker?” Uma tried with a wide grin.

“I’ve seen the Queen of Auradon on the television. She’s way prettier than you and can turn into a dragon,” the police officer informed Mal with a sneer, and pushed her in the car.

“Let me out, and I’ll show you just how I do it,” Mal told her. The cop rolled his eyes and he turned to the other three that were standing there near the car.

“As for the rest of you lot, I don’t believe a word you’re saying. You criminal types are full of lies,” he pointed out and Uma, Audrey, and Jane reluctantly got into the police car.

Mal suppressed a groan as the man started to get into the driver’s seat.

“Idiot Cinderellasburg officer,” Mal mumbled under her breath, leaning in nearby Uma. The dark-skinned girl nodded her head in agreement as she gave the man a nasty look.

The policeman started to drive and Mal stared at him through the rearview mirror, her eyes glowing green as she tried to silently communicate her identity. When he finally saw her magic, the man looked at her in a discombobulated sort of way and he gasped.

“You sorceress! That’s against the law, too, and you’re really gonna get in trouble for that!” the cop exclaimed and went a little faster in the direction of the police station lockdown.

Mal growled quietly in pure frustration. The people of Cinderellasburg were just like their rulers Prince Charming, Cinderella, and Chad- total and complete morons.

The drive was oddly short, and the cop soon had them walking through the doors of the police station.

“Hey, Barney! You drag in them there perps that were robbing the _Jify-Journey_?” a receptionist at the front desk questioned. Officer Barney, as he was apparently named, heartily nodded in return as he sent them on through the door that led to the lockdown area.

“Sure enough! I caught ‘em speeding and that’s when I found out that they were wanted for questioning about that robbery!” he proudly announced.

Mal walked in the front, followed by Evie, then Uma, Audrey just behind the pirate, and Jane at the back of the line.

They filed into the barred cage that was open and the policeman shut the gate, locking it securely behind them.

“Stick your hands through the slit here and I’ll uncuff you,” he instructed, and they all complied. Mal rolled her eyes, resisting the urge to turn into a dragon right in front of him. He probably just wouldn’t understand, and he’d freak out even more over her “sorcery.”

Mal was the first to be released and she let out a sigh of relief, rubbing at her wrists as she headed over to the bench nearby and sat down heavily.

She silently watched Barney through the bars, thinking of how horribly that everything had gone so far. Uma joined Mal, plopping down next to the purple-haired girl with a sigh. Audrey simply remained standing, staring at the ground with an almost traumatized expression.

Evie sat nearby Mal, burying her face in her hands. Mal glanced over at her sadly before returning her gaze to Jane.

“Hey, can I make a call?” Jane questioned before he could uncuff her and the cop looked at her strangely before apparently deciding she was harmless enough.

“Fine. I guess,” he granted, and Jane left the cell, offering Mal a thumbs-up when Barney wasn’t looking, and Mal knew that she was going to call Ben or one of the boys to get them to come save them.

Uma furrowed her brow, not sure what to talk about, and resorted to watching Audrey as she paced the floor in a complete frenzy.

“Great! I’m in jail! What will the kingdom think? What will Grammy think? What will my parents think?” Audrey questioned under her breath, her eyes wide with the panic as she hurried around.

“I’m going to go talk to her,” Uma glanced back at Mal and informed her, overcame by some sense of sympathy for her favorite victim to pester.

Uma got to her feet and stepped into Audrey’s line of pacing. As soon as she turned around, Uma grabbed Audrey’s arms to keep her from running into the pirate.

“Hey, it’s going to be alright,” Uma assured her in that calm manner that she had. Audrey furrowed her brow and Uma could see she didn’t really believe her. Uma sighed in resignation, mentally preparing herself to express her emotions a little better as she let go of the princess’s upper arms.

“Look, Audrey. I know I’ve made things tough for you, and I know I’ve been a total pain in the butt this whole trip.”

“You haven’t been a pain in the butt,” Audrey protested suddenly, her eyes laser-focused on Uma’s. The dark-skinned girl tilted her head to the side, more than a little surprised by this development.

“Really? Because you sure didn’t seem to care for my-”

“Uma, this has been the nicest road trip of my entire life. You annoyed me horridly in the beginning, but I started to actually enjoy our banter once I realized,” Audrey trailed off, swallowing hard at the realization that she was about to reveal these deeply hidden insecurities. “Once I realized that it made me feel like for the first time that I was part of a group.”

Uma’s expression softened somehow after the pink princess had said that. Uma hesitantly placed a hand on Audrey’s shoulder.

“Nobody should feel left out. I know what that feels like on a very personal level. I was left out of Mal’s gang, I was left out of the invitation to Auradon, and I was left out of the land of Auradon itself,” Uma explained uncomfortably. Audrey smiled softly at her.

“I guess we got more in common than we thought, eh, Pirate Ship?” Audrey asked, puffing up with pride at her use of Uma’s joke. Uma stared blankly at her for a minute before laughing at her.

“Yeah, I guess so, Princess,” Uma told her, squeezing her shoulder tightly.

Mal shook her head slightly, watching the two of them. Mal let out a breath in a sigh. However, Evie suddenly nudged her shoulder, clearing her throat quietly and successfully drawing the faerie from her reverie. Mal looked over at the other girl, surprise laced in her expression.

“I’m sorry, M. I shouldn’t have gotten so mad about that guy. Otherwise, we might not be here now,” Evie apologized, and Mal sensed just how close to tears Evie was.

Mal wasted no time in drawing Evie into a hug, the bluenette’s chin resting on Mal’s head as the smaller girl leaned into her trustingly. Evie moved into her just as heavily and Mal closed her eyes in the enjoyment of having her sister so near to her.

“It’s okay. It’s a total coincidence that this happened,” Mal reassured her soothingly and Evie’s shoulders shook in a silent sob. Mal stroked her back comfortingly and she felt moisture fall onto her forehead. Evie’s throat moved against her nose in a swallow as she started to speak.

“This whole trip has just gone wrong. Charlene’s tire went flat, we stopped at a crappy gas station that was robbed after we came, we stayed at an absolutely atrocious motel, and now my stupid anger issues on the road landed us all in jail,” Evie whined, biting her lip hard in an attempt to keep the warble out of her voice.

“And the whole trip was my idea,” Evie added quietly.

Mal squeezed her tighter.

“Hang on just a second,” Uma’s voice suddenly piped up, and Evie’s bloodshot, tear-filled gaze slowly shifted to study the pirate.

“I happened to have fun fixing Charlene’s tire. That was really cool to get to experience something like that with you guys. It was mostly Mal that helped, but you know what I mean,” Uma shrugged but Evie offered a watery smile in return, obviously touched by Uma’s statement.

“And the crappy gas station had tons of candy and Jane won five dollars, which she was absolutely ecstatic about,” Mal informed against the smooth skin of Evie’s neck where she had her face pressed into in the midst of her embrace.

“The motel wasn’t that bad. The look on your face was hilarious when you thought Mal and Uma were the elderly twins,” Audrey told her, sharing a wide grin with Uma as they chuckled at Evie’s expense.

“And like I said, us getting arrested isn’t your fault. There was no way to know what could happen,” Mal comforted her, pulling away to look into the bluenette’s eyes.

“To be honest, I’ve had a blast,” Uma expressed.

“Evie, sincerely from the bottom of my heart, thank you for taking us on this trip,” Audrey thanked, and Evie felt a real smile coming upon her face as she nodded, opening her arm for Audrey to give her a hug. The pink princess tilted her head sweetly and quickly entered Evie’s embrace.

Mal raised an eyebrow, opening her free arm to Uma who was currently standing awkwardly by herself and watching the group hug.

“You ain’t serious,” Uma groaned, but Mal could see the desire to accept Mal’s unasked request.

Mal flexed her fingers, encouraging the pirate to come over and join them.

Uma sighed in exasperation, but Mal noticed the hidden grin that she had when Mal’s and Audrey’s arms wrapped around her, successfully bringing her into the action.

Mal didn’t know what in the world that they were going to do about the jail situation, but she knew that for now, everything was alright.


	9. Bibbidi Bobbidi, You're Where?!

Jane took the phone to start dialing the number. She sighed heavily, dreading deeply the conversation that was about to follow her call.

“Here goes nothing,” she murmured under her breath before pressing the numbers and tapping call.

It rang for a few moments, and to Jane’s chagrin, the person on the other end answered.

“Hello? Fairy Godmother’s office, how might I help you today?” Fairy Godmother questioned and Jane took in a breath to speak.

“Hi, Mom…”

“Jane! Hi, sweetie, are you at the beach house? Tell me, have you seen any dolphins? And is dear Uma behaving herself with Audrey?” her mother bombarded her with questions. Jane cleared her throat nervously, preparing to finally drop the bomb.

“Well… We didn’t exactly make it to the beach house,” Jane told her.

“What do you mean? Are you broken down on the side of the road? Jane, dear, don’t unlock the doors in case of unsavory characters,” Fairy Godmother instructed, and Jane sighed.

“We got pulled over by the police,” Jane started, and her mother gasped.

“Is Evie driving like a nutcase again?! Goodness, I know we should’ve let Jay teach her how to drive instead of Mal.”

“She got pulled over for speeding… And we’re kind of sort of in,” Jane trailed off, glancing around the whole place, “jail…”

“Bibbidi bobbidi, you’re where?!” Fairy Godmother nearly deafened Jane’s right ear. The blue-eyed girl winced, holding the phone out from her ear in the midst of her mother’s screeching.

“Mom, they think we stole stuff from this gas station, and they’ve brought us in for questioning,” Jane explained desperately, knowing that her mother was already past the point of no return as soon as the word jail passed her lips.

“WHAT!” Fairy Godmother cried out. “I can’t believe they’d do this! Did you tell them who you were?”

“Yeah, and Mal and Audrey did, too. They didn’t believe us… I really thought that they would’ve recognized Audrey, though.”

“Which police station are you at and what’s the name of the officer that brought you in?” Fairy Godmother suddenly questioned suspiciously.

“We’re in Cinderellasburg. And his name is Barney, I think,” Jane told her. Her mother immediately groaned at the name.

“That explains it. Ooh!” Fairy Godmother angrily exclaimed. “That nincompoop! He always used to arrest people before he found all the proof! I guess he’s still in the habit of it.”

“Can you get Ben and everybody and bring them here to fix this? This stupid police station is keeping us in this holding cell so we don’t run away while they’re getting ready to question us,” Jane informed her, hoping to keep her mother from the rant that was sure to follow.

“Of course, dear, we’ll be right there,” Fairy Godmother assured her.

They exchanged a few final words and Jane finally hung up.

“’Bout time you were done!” Barney cried out, handcuffing her and pulling her along back to the holding cell.

Jane complied without a protest and soon she was back in the exact same position that she was when she had first mentioned making a call. Barney unlocked her handcuffs and set her free inside the cell with the other four.

Mal immediately stood up and strode over to her, taking her hands.

“Who did you call?” Mal asked, and Jane sighed.

“I called Mom, and she’s bringing everybody to come and undo this mess,” Jane told her. Mal nodded, squeezing her hands fondly and moving over to the bars to lean back against them casually.

However, just as she did, a policeman brought in a man through the halls, taking him to another lockdown area. Mal glanced behind her and looked away in boredom.

As the man moved down the hall toward them, he looked up and spotted Audrey standing there. He suddenly got a big, wolfish grin on his face as he unashamedly looked her up and down.

Evie couldn’t help but immediately feel sorry for Audrey, knowing how it felt to be leered at like that.

“Hey, there, _baby_!” Audrey shifted her gaze to him, and her eyes widened at the sight of the disgusting man. She took a step back in disgust.

“How about you shoot me your number and we can have some fun after our time in the pen, just you and me?” he asked her, and Uma grinned at the look on Audrey’s face at the very implication of that statement.

“I have a boyfriend!” Audrey proclaimed angrily.

“What about a manfriend, hottie?” the guy flirted, and Audrey turned her back to him. He wolf-whistled and Audrey quickly turned back to face him, completely offended by his behavior.

He just chuckled at her expression as the cop shoved him past their cell.

Uma walked up to the bars and watched until he was out of sight. As soon as he was gone, she turned to the pink princess with a big grin.

“So, hottie, you gonna get you a manfriend?” Uma asked with a cackle and Audrey growled in response.

“Jay’s all the man I need,” Audrey ground out, still creeped out by the man.

“Really? ‘Cuz that guy didn’t seem to think so,” Uma pointed out with a wicked smile.

“How would you feel if it was you that he asked?” Audrey asked.

“I’d punch him in the face so hard that he’d have to run his toothbrush up his rear end just to brush his teeth every night,” Uma laughed, and Mal raised an eyebrow, impressed.

“Wow… You go, girl,” Mal expressed with a thumbs-up.

“Well… Well, I’d slap his face so hard that it left a mark!” Audrey announced, trying to top Uma’s comment.

“Sit down before you hurt yourself,” Uma pointed at the bench. Audrey just huffed in response as Evie stood up and joined Mal nearby the bars of the cell.

Mal smiled at her sweetly and Evie gladly returned it with one of her own.

“How long do you think we’ll be here before the boys come?” Evie asked. Mal shrugged, not really having a particularly good answer to that.

“I really don’t know. Hopefully soon. I’m getting sick of being in the slammer,” Mal told her with a slight laugh. Evie nodded in agreeance.

There were a few beats of silence and Audrey suddenly spoke.

“I have to pee.”

“Dang, what is with you and bodily fluids?!” Uma questioned disgustedly.

“I don’t know, I just have to pee,” Audrey told her. “Where am I going to go?”

Mal glanced around the room and her gaze homed in on a particular item in the cell.

“Thorn, your deluxe latrine is awaiting you in the corner,” Mal told her. Audrey looked where Mal had mentioned, and she nearly turned inside out at the mere sight of the toilet that was sitting there.

Audrey hesitantly approached it, and was very thankful when she saw that it wasn’t clogged like the toilet at the _Jify-Journey_. However, there was a serious privacy issue and if absolutely anyone walked through that door, they’d see her.

But she guessed that a girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do. There was no other toilets and her only option was to go right in front of everyone.

Audrey swallowed hard, trying to collect all of her nerve before even attempting to use it. It was so hard for her to let go of her accustomedness to nice, clean commodities.

“Okay, you guys all turn around and keep an eye out for anybody that might come in,” Audrey instructed with a deep sigh, and Evie and Mal easily complied, facing the door to provide a barrier between Audrey and any intruders.

Jane joined them and Uma slowly turned around as well.

The four of them stood along the cell’s bars as they kept Audrey covered from view.

Uma raised an eyebrow as she glanced at the other three with a wicked smile. Mal returned her look, wondering what she had planned.

“Hey, Officer,” Uma suddenly spoke to the empty hall. Mal held back the urge to laugh.

“What’re you girls doing?” Evie surprisingly spoke up in a surprisingly good impression of Barney. When Mal looked at her in questioning, the corners of her lips curved up in a mischievous smile. Evie and Uma kept their face positioned forward so Audrey couldn’t see that it was them talking.

Because they were standing in front of the bars, Audrey also couldn’t see that there was no one in the hall at all.

“Oh, nothing. One of us is just taking a whiz. She won’t be long,” Uma couldn’t keep up the act and she laughed. The other girls quickly joined in, enjoying Uma’s joke.

“My gosh, I seriously thought he was coming! You guys are mean!” Audrey cried out in frustration.

They were quieted for a little while save for the occasional chuckle until Audrey spoke up.

“What am I supposed to wipe with?”

“There’s two options here. You either shake it off, or you wipe with your sleeve. Since you aren’t wearing long sleeves, I reckon it’s gonna be your arm,” Uma cruelly explained, and Audrey cried out in horror.

Mal tried to avoid finding humor in it, but she inevitably snorted at Uma’s assessment. However, Evie and Jane looked severely grossed out.

“You are _disgusting_!”


	10. The Calvary Has Arrived

“WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER!!!” Mal was shaken from her position sleeping against Evie’s shoulder and she felt a big grin come onto her face at the sound of that very familiar voice.

She must have been asleep longer than she thought. The last thing she remembered was her and the other four sitting on the benches and deciding to rest since they got so little sleep the previous night.

“I couldn’t give two flippin’ pancakes about what she definitely without question did not do, I asked where is she?!!!” Hades’ voice carried throughout the entire police station and everyone else in the cell with her was starting to wake up, too, knowing that they were surely about to be saved.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so glad to hear your daddy,” Uma told Mal with a good-natured laugh.

“Florian, mind your own business and explain to these people who that perfect, innocent little angel is!” Hades shouted angrily just before he burst through the door to the hall leading to their holding cell.

Mal stood up and wrapped her fingers around the bars, unable to keep the smile off of her face at the sight of him.

Hades’ eyes widened and he practically ran the rest of the way down the hall. He took her face in his hands, surveying her carefully and quietly as he checked for any damage

“Hey, baby girl,” Hades greeted, pressing his forehead against the metal bars and allowing his hands to slip from her face in favor of placing them on her own hands on the bars.

“What happened to perfect, innocent little angel?” Mal teasingly questioned. Hades chuckled under his breath, rolling his eyes.

“It was in the heat of the moment, okay?” Mal simply let out a sharp bark of laughter at his statement, but she quickly sobered, looking at him with a more quiet and calm emotion.

“I’m really glad you’re here,” Mal expressed with a sincere smile. Hades nodded in response, squeezing her hands gently.

Jay, Carlos, Harry, and Gil poured in through the door and the other girls stood up quickly to greet them.

Mal moved away from Hades to greet Jay and Carlos, and Evie sidled up to her. The girls reached between the bars and laced their fingers with the boys’.

“How did you end up in jail?!” Carlos questioned, laughing as he looked at the two of them.

“It was a big misunderstanding,” Evie bashfully admitted with a wide grin as she squeezed Jay’s hand gently, her other arm wrapped around Mal’s waist.

“It must’ve been gargantuan,” Jay joked and the four shared a laugh. Mal and Evie backed away so Jane and Audrey could see their boys.

Jane hurried over and squeezed Carlos’ biceps through the bars, explaining from the very beginning everything that had happened to the five of them throughout the trips.

Audrey rushed to Jay, grabbing his jacket and pulling him against the bars.

“Kiss me,” Audrey cried, puckering her lips the best she could between two of the metal rods. Jay chuckled at her and returned the kiss, however strange it felt.

“I love you!” Audrey exclaimed suddenly and sucked in a breath in shock at herself. She subtly gauged Jay’s expression. She had never said that aloud to him before, and she couldn’t help but feel a little strange upon the admission.

“I love you, too,” he told her, nuzzling her nose in the space between. Audrey felt her heart flutter pleasantly and something warm increasingly rising in her chest as she enjoyed having him as close as the bars allowed.

Uma walked over to Harry and Gil and the son of Hook looked her up and down in pleased shock.

“Took you long enough, you scurvy dog,” Uma grinned widely, and Harry laughed breathlessly.

Uma reached through and took his hook in her hand tightly, closing her eyes. She had never truly been without him before and she found that even though she didn’t really notice it before, since she had time to think in jail, Uma had missed him terribly the past two days.

Her eyes shot open in shock, though, when his lips were planted firmly against her forehead. He pulled away quickly, but the kiss lingered on her head and she involuntarily felt a bit of disappointment at his withdrawal.

“Ahoy, cap’n,” Harry smiled softly and Uma stared into his crystalline blue eyes for a few moments before being distracted by Gil suddenly starting into a rather embarrassing monologue.

“Woah, I think you two just had a moment! I don’t know about everybody else, but I’m totally shipping Huma!” Gil announced and everyone else looked at the dark-skinned girl and her first mate.

Uma stepped back in embarrassment, refusing to look at Harry as she tried to push away her feelings about being put on the spot.

After a moment, Audrey nodded in agreement, considering it deeply. Mal just rolled her eyes. Carlos offered a thumbs-up and Hades just looked at them both with an expression that expressed some sort of weirded out disgust.

“Sorry, Gil, my OTP’s Bal,” Evie told him regretfully, her arm still thrown around her sister. Mal’s attention immediately snapped to Evie.

“What’s an OTP and what the heck is Bal?” Mal inquired.

“One True Pairing. Bal is Ben and Mal. Duh,” Evie explained, squeezing Mal’s torso and resting her head on Mal’s own with a laugh.

“That’s just weird. What about Devie, then?” Mal teasingly suggested and Evie furrowed her brow in thought for a moment, trying to decipher the purple-haired girl’s word. As soon as she had, however, she got a sour look on her face.

“You know how I feel about that,” Evie grumbled and Mal chuckled at her, angling her head up and nuzzling her cheek gently.

“I know, and it’s okay because I do, too.”

Right about then, Ben charged into the hall.

“Here comes my OTP,” Evie murmured, leaning down to whisper into Mal’s ear.

The faerie rolled her eyes and pulled away to greet Ben through the bars. He smiled widely as soon as he saw his wife and he took her hands as soon as he was in range, kissing each of them in turn.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. A little thirsty and I could do with some strawberries, but I’m good,” Mal assured him with a light laugh.

“Fairy Godmother just called. She was at _Jify-Journey_, looking through the video tapes and she found the missing tape that proves your innocence!” Ben happily explained and Mal grinned widely as she shared a glance with Audrey, who was standing beside her to talk to Jay.

“Apparently, the woman who was running the place was stealing things from her own shop, trying to collect insurance money on it. She had the tape hidden, but Fairy Godmother was able to find it. She’s sending the video content to the officers here and as soon as they get it, they’ll free you,” Ben told her.

“You, my dear, are a genius,” Mal took his face gently in her hands.

“Well, thank Fairy Godmother. She’s the real genius,” Ben explained and leaned in to kiss Mal. Just before he reached her lips, there was a voice clearing his throat.

Ben pulled away slowly, his lips still a bit puckered as he looked at Hades. He had an eyebrow raised as he stared at the boy, completely unimpressed with his open show of affection.

“You need to work on your duckface,” Uma pointed out suddenly, and Audrey immediately burst into laughter. The other three girls couldn’t help but join in, remembering Uma trying on Audrey’s sunglasses.

“Duckface?” Ben asked, completely confused, and the girls just laughed harder.

“Alright, it appears that you five are free to go,” Barney announced, coming through the door that Ben had just entered from a few moments ago. The five of them quickly quieted, looking at the man with contempt and aggravation.

Hades turned to look at him and Barney’s eyes went so wide that he almost looked like a comic book character. Hades furrowed his brow and Mal could’ve sworn the policeman wet his pants.

Barney gulped and edged around the god, unlocking and opening the door of the cell quickly.

The five girls poured out quickly. Evie and Mal immediately pulled Carlos and Jay into a huge group hug, much preferring to be outside the bars for their embrace.

Uma stopped in front of Harry, raising an eyebrow and completely unimpressed. He smiled slightly at her and she rolled her eyes as she grabbed the collar of his shirt firmly, successfully dragging him down to her level.

“You know, if you were going to pull a stunt like that, you could’ve at least done it right,” Uma told him before smashing her lips against his own. He was stock-still, shocked by Uma’s sudden move.

Before he could even attempt to react, Uma drew back just barely, leaving him wide-eyed and stunned.

“Now, what’s my name?”

“Uma,” he breathlessly yet emphatically answered, and she flashed him a grin as she released him gently.

“And don’t you forget it.” She looked down at his lips once more before turning to meet Gil’s excited, puppy-like face.

“Don’t think I missed that,” Audrey called out, and Uma rolled her eyes at her. However, her sarcasm quickly turned to laughter as Jay broke away from Mal, Carlos, and Evie to kiss her hard. She squeaked, but quickly returned it before he pulled away to smirk at her.

Audrey was breathing hard and she couldn’t help the stupid, lovestruck grin on her face.

“Uh-huh, look who’s talking,” Uma shot back at her as payback, but Audrey was too dazed to really care.

Carlos grinned widely at all of them but was completely surprised when Jane quickly pecked him on the cheek. He stared at her in pleased shock and she smiled shyly. He kissed her cheek in return and she giggled before he brought her into a hug.

Mal laughed at them but was quickly swept off of her feet by Ben as he drew her in for a kiss, too. She fisted his suit jacket as he pulled her close.

“Well, that was sudden,” Mal whispered, her nose touching his, once he had pulled away.

“Everybody else was doing it. I thought it’d only be right for us to join in,” Ben told her with a goofy smile. Mal let go of his suit jacket and repositioned his crown so it was sideways. She nodded her head in satisfaction and he drew her nearer, nuzzling her cheek as she giggled.

Hades and Evie watched with a fond smile and Hades looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

“If you ask me to kiss you, I’m going to have to pass,” he told her, and Evie couldn’t help but laugh as she shook her head, enjoying the joke.

Since Hades came back into Mal’s life, he and Evie had become good friends and she almost liked to think of him as her father, too. But she’d never say that to his face, despite the fact that he treated her like she was.

“Don’t worry, we’re going to get you with FG,” Evie told him, and the smirk immediately fell from his face as he wrinkled his nose in disgust.

“Well, that’s just nasty. If there has to be displays of affection everywhere, can I just hug you instead?” Hades offered and Evie gladly complied, hugging him tightly before pulling away slightly with a grin.

“You aren’t stealing my dad from me, are you, E?” Mal questioned with a grin and Evie shook her head with a smile as she reached out and squeezed Mal’s shoulder.

“One hug’s not hurting anything, stingy,” Evie teased and Mal just gazed at her fondly.

It had certainly been one heck of a vacation, but despite all of its faults, it had been a blast because they had all done it together.

** A/N: You didn’t think this was the end of the story, did you? Yes, folks, there’s one more short chapter that will be released after this one. :) Thank you for all of your comments, favorites, and follows. This has been so fun to write and I’m very sad that it only has one more chapter left.**


	11. Best Road Trip Ever

The group poured out of the police station doors and they got in the limo that the boys had all taken to get there.

Jay moved into the driver’s seat and Audrey took the seat just beside him. Everyone else got in the back of the limo. Jay rolled down the window between the front seat and the backseat.

“So where to, you guys?” he questioned, and everyone looked at him strangely. “Beach house or home?”

Mal furrowed her brow and looked at the other four girls as she considered her verdict.

“What do you guys think?”

Audrey looked at Uma and Jane, and Evie looked at Mal before they all shared a big grin.

“Beach house,” they all said at the same time, and Jay nodded emphatically.

“Everybody else concur?” Jay asked, and the boys and Hades all expressed varying forms of agreement.

“Alright, then. Let’s go,” Jay told them, and he popped a CD into the limo before backing out of the parking lot and setting off.

_I came to dance-dance-dance-dance___  
I hit the floor 'cause that's my plans plans-plans-plans  
I'm wearing all my favorite brands brands-brands-brands  
Give me some space for both my hands hands-hands-hands

Mal grinned at the tune and bobbed her head with the music as she rocked out between Evie and Ben. Evie quickly started dancing with her. After all, she couldn’t pass up a good rock-out session.

“Now this music is good! Unlike Audrey’s taste!” Uma teased, and Audrey rolled her eyes and mostly ignored her in favor of swaying to the beat.

Harry grinned widely at her in agreement and Uma pressed her head against his shoulder in a half-hearted headbutt as he wrapped an arm around her. She returned the gesture with a smile as she instead rested her head on his shoulder rather than pushing against it.

_I throw my hands up in the air sometimes___  
Saying ay-oh, gotta let go  
I wanna celebrate and live my life  
Saying ay-oh, baby let's go

Everyone in the back was dancing happily to the tune. Even Hades was nodding his head and enjoying the song.

“I know, right? All that Justin Bieber crap,” Jay told the dark-skinned girl. Audrey slapped his arm and he laughed, catching her arm in one hand to stop her onslaught of attacks.

“Justin Bieber’s not so bad,” Ben muttered under his breath and Mal looked at him in shock as she resisted the urge to laugh at him.

“Of course you’d think that,” Hades suddenly interrupted, his voice slightly raised to be heard over the sound of the music.

“He’s probably your idol. You know, with that irritating high-pitched voice and stupid bangs,” Hades pointed out, completely dead-serious as he waved at Ben’s hair. Ben looked almost offended and Mal kissed him on the cheek in an attempt to alleviate some of the negative emotion.

“I think you should be taking lessons from Harry. His bangs are actually done sort of stylish,” Hades further insulted, and Harry grinned smugly at the compliment.

“Thanks, Pops,” Harry spoke in reply and Hades narrowed his eyes at him.

“Don’t call me Pops, bucko. I’m using you as an example.”

“I’ll still be takin’ it as a compliment,” Harry grinned and Uma rolled her eyes at him, slapping the top of his pirate hat so that it fell over his eyes. He just responded by blindly trying to kiss her. Uma leaned away as his ridiculously puckered lips approached her, unsure of their target.

Evie grinned and she pointed to her foot as she looked at Uma. Uma smiled evilly and she took off her shoe and raised it to his face. He jerked back as soon as his lips made contact and he flicked his hat up so he could see a little better.

“Cap’n!” he cried and her and Evie shared a pleased grin as Uma pulled her shoe back on.

After a few moments, the song finally ended, and Uma stopped for a moment as she eyed the others.

“Hey, you guys wanna hear about a hitchhiker?” Uma offered and just as Ben was about to answer her with something positive, the other original road-trippers all came to attention quickly.

“NO!” the other four shouted and quickly collapsed into giggles.

Jay took a few more turns and Mal, Evie, Audrey, Uma, and Jane were all left completely shocked at the sight before them.

Jay pulled into the garage of the beach house and parked the limo with a smirk.

“We were that close to the beach house?!” Evie suddenly exclaimed and the other four girls looked at her in horror.

“You mean all that time you weren’t really sure whether we were going in the right direction or not?!” Audrey cried out, gaping at the bluenette.

Evie shrugged sheepishly and Uma reached over, patting her on the head.

“You’ll be okay. You’ll be _okay_.”

They all got out of the vehicle and Mal sighed contentedly at the sight of the calmness of the ocean and the sands before them.

Uma immediately took off in the direction of the sea with Harry in tow while Gil bounded behind them in a manner not unsimilar to a dog. The dark-skinned pirate was hooting and yelling excitedly as she ran through the sand and her crew joined in. Ultimately, all three of them sounded like psychos, but they didn’t care.

Audrey and Jane with their respective boyfriends headed down to the sand, big grins on their faces. Hades grabbed Ben by the back of his shirt as he yanked him along behind him.

“C’mon, Florian, show me where my bedroom is. It’s my nap time.” Mal waved at Ben and he returned it nervously before willingly walking along with Hades.

Mal happened to catch Evie’s gaze and the bluenette smiled widely at the purple-haired girl. Mal leaned into Evie’s body and Evie wrapped her arms around the shorter girl. Mal closed her eyes, enjoying the slightly older one’s enveloping and warm embrace.

“Evie?”

“Yeah, Mal?”

“Best road trip ever.”

**A/N: Now it really is the end, lol. It’s been a great road trip with you all! :) Happy trails and remember to never stop at crappy gas stations and keep a level head while on the road! Until the next bout of insanity and fun!**


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